The Gem of Batman
by thegirlwhoisstillwaiting
Summary: The little baby is left on the door step so the mother will remain unseen. One little slip up results in a powerful little girl. As daughter of Batman, maybe she will grow up to save to world. Maybe even make a name for herself in the world Heroes and Villains. Rated M for violence and certain adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Bruce Wayne's pov**

**Earth-16**

**Gotham**

**1999**

The doorbell rings just as Alfred and I come up from the Batcave. The cold breeze outside drafts into the house. The night is near over, so I begin to head up to my bedroom. He goes to the door as I make it up the stairs.

"Master Bruce!" Alfred calls to me urgently. I immediately go on the defense as I rush down to only find him holding a basket while turning away from the open doorway.

"Alfred, what is that?" I step warily, hoping it isn't anything horribly unnerving. There is a little whimper coming from inside the basket. I rush up to Alfred and look inside to see a tiny baby girl on the verge of crying. He hands me the basket with the baby and opens a note. The baby starts crying.

"Hold her, she'll stop." Alfred tells me as he reads.

"How am I supposed to hold a baby?" I get awkward. "I've never held one before!" I freak out.

"Well you're gonna learn because this note says she's yours. Remember a Miss Prince?" He tells me. I nearly had a heart attack. It was one time and I'm sure we took precautions… It does explain why she took a leave of absence. I assumed there was something she had to take care of back home. I look down at the little girl and she gazes back at me with great big blue eyes, just like her mother's. The little baby has a black mop of hair just like mine.

"Does the note say how old she is? Or a name?" I ask him as I slowly pick up the baby.

"It says she was born a month ago today and Miss Prince wished for you to find a suitable name for her." Alfred replies.

"I don't know what to name her." I frown. This beautiful little thing is my daughter, and she is without a name. Alfred adjusts her in my arms.

"You need to support her head. There we go." She stops crying and curls up against my chest.

"She's gonna wake up and need things." I tell him.

"I'll take the car and pick up everything we could need for now. Including some clothes. Then tomorrow, we can go and get her some proper things." Alfred says as he walks to the garage. I am alone with a baby. My little child. I sit down with her and think about what she should be named. I think about naming her Martha, but I don't want her to be like a remembrance, so I continue finding a name. I go in the library and look at books and see if there is any character names that pop out at me. Then, it just hits me. None of the books would have it, but my favorite name appears in my head. Ariella. My little Ari. But she will need a middle name as well. Ariella Hippolyta Wayne, so she would have a little part of her mother in her name.

I sit down in front of the tv and wait for Alfred to come home with the baby stuff. When he does, we change her diaper, feed her, and put her in a onesie. I put her on my giant bed with a fuzzy blanket and we go to sleep, me curled around her to make she she can't roll away off the bed.

**2003**

I'm running around the house chasing my little Ari. Her hip length hair flowing behind her. The thing that worries me the most is that she is going to disappear. She has a new found habit of turning invisible. I once had to call Superman to come and used his x-ray and heat sensing vision to find her. Was not fun at all. She's a reckless child as well. She fell down the stairs but her invulnerability kicked in and she skin turned diamond like, her hair strands of silvery crystal. Sparkling as she tumbles down the stairs. I had immediately scooped her up to see if she was okay but she was just absolutely peachy. The next time she slipped and ran into a wall, she quite literally when through the wall. It was like martian manhunter's density shifting but I mapped her genome and found that the meta gene that caused it was classified as intangibility extension. Today she keeps floating. It's hard to keep up with her with all her four year old energized self.

**2007**

Dick and Ari have been doing enough gymnastics to the point that Dick started teaching Ari how to swing on a trapeze. She's been pretty happy to have an older brother. She keeps saying it's because she isn't the only one getting into trouble anymore. But I believe that it's because she thinks she is gonna become a superhero soon just like Dick is as Robin. She may be have her training, but I am not going to let her go into the field until she is a little older. She needs a handle on her abilities, especially now that her super strength has manifested. When that happened, I had Wonder Woman come by and start helping train her. It's a nice excuse for her to see Ari more often.

"Daddy!" Ari calls to me. "Can Dickie and I have ice cream?" She flies up to me and gives me the puppy dog face that she knows I can't say no to.

"Sure, sweetheart. I'll have alfred make his special sundays." I look at my long time friend and caretaker. He smiles and goes off to the kitchen. "Say thank you to him." I instruct. She nods and flies to the hallway.

"Thank you Alfred!" She calls with a big fat smile on her face. I swear if that kid smiled anymore than she already does, her face is going to get stuck like that.

**2010**

This is hard for me. I started bringing Ariella on patrols and it is unbelievably hard to let my little girl go fight the worst people in gotham. I still don't even let her come on any league missions even though Diana is pushing for her to start sometime. Maybe not be a member of the league, but start working on the Team to prepare for joining the league.

Today on patrol, the joker popped up and started holding the Mayor of Gotham as a hostage. When we arrived, I ordered Ari to stay invisible until we took down joker. No flying or super strength until she fails in hand to hand combat. Not even diamond form so she can prove her defensive skills. Not that it will be that hard with the Joker, but he plays games that even challenge me. Hopefully she won't have any problem. I will just serve as a distraction tonight.

"Well, well. I have finally been graced with the Bat's presence." Joker says as I lurk out of the shadows.

"It's over, Joker. You know you can't beat me." I tell him.

"Oh it's not over." He laughs deeply. Like he is slipping between personalities. Men with machine guns and various clown masks enter the room. This is a time where I am proud proud to be wearing a kevlar suit. They open fire and before I can react, I feel something touch my back. The bullets fly right through me like I am an illusion. Thank god for my daughter's intangible extension. "That's new!" Joker laughs in a high pitch of excitement.

"Yes, it is." I comment as something starts taking down the clown masked gunman. I assume it's Ari using her training. Someone fires a shot and I hear a grunt. Ari quickly appears and re disappears. Her bicep bleeding.

"I see you have a new pet." Joker laughs as the last man goes down.

"And I see that you've bought yourself a one way ticket back to Arkham." Ari appears, pulling jokers hands behind his back and cuffing him. "Oh, and the name is Nightshade." she introduces herself to him. I am amazed at my eleven year old's confidence. But she is going to be taken out of the field for a while for letting herself get shot.

"Oh, his he your daddy-bats?" Joker asks and we escort him to the police car.

"No. Not even an uncle." She replies coldly. Alfred has been taking her to improv and acting classes. I feel almost hurt by her answer.

"That true?" Joker looks to me.

"Do I look like I would have kids?" I scowl at him.

"Yes." He states simply.

"No." I shove him into the cop car and take Ariella back to the Batmobile. She plays with trying to get her newest power to work as I drive.

"I'm gonna get it at some point." She says as she gives up in frustration. The purple sparkles disappear from her hands.

"Yes, but I also prefer it if you didn't try to make a field in my car." I give her a smile. She sighs.

"Sorry about getting shot." She apologizes quietly.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Things happen." She suddenly looks relieved.

"So I can go on patrol tomorrow?" She asks. I laugh.

"This is where the over protective dad comes into play. No, I don't want a gunshot wound to keep you off the top of your game." I tell her.

"I figured as much." She gives me a smile.

**2013**

"You ready?" I ask Ari. She fiddles with her long, black braid. Even pulls at the hem of her black Nightshade dress, of which I insisted be made of Kevlar.

"No, but it's now or never, right?" she looks at me. Her blue eyes so much like her mother's.

"You sure you don't want to wait a few more years?" I joke. But only a half joke because I'm worried something could happen to her. Just like Jason. "I'm going to present the team with a mission. I'd like it if you went with them, just to get your feet wet with the idea of working with them."

"I know. But what do I tell them? My name? Do I say I'm Bruce Wayne's Daughter or Batman's? Or am I just super secretive like Dick and Barbara?" She asks in a worried tone.

"You could tell them to call you any variation of your hero name, or you could tell them to call you Ari, but not Ariella and the only thing that concerns them is that you are my newest protege." I instruct. She sighs.

"Yes, sir. No identity." She grumbles.

"You know it's for your protection. We introduced you as Batman's daughter and someone figured out you were Ariella Wayne, they could use you to get to me. Even if you are bulletproof, I don't want anything to happen to you." I remind her. She hugs me. I feel awkward being hugged in my Batman suit, but she makes it work.

"Alright," she breathes, "let's get going." And with that, we step into the zeta tube. We meet the team with Ari behind me, in diamond form.

"This is my newest protege, and your new teammate." I step aside to reveal the glittering fourteen year old.

"I'm Nightshade." She beams with confidence that I'm sure she only just stumbled upon. Superboy approaches her.

"I'm Superboy, but you can call me Connor." He awkwardly puts his hand out and she shakes it. Miss Martian shakes her hand as well.

"I'm M'gann, but you may know me as Miss Martian." She smiles wide. Next is Wonder Girl, the Tula, then Tempest, Aqualad, Beastboy, Lagoon Boy, both Lieutenant and Sergeant Marvels, Rocket, and Zatanna.

"It's nice to meet you all." She smiles.

"So, are you an alien or a metahuman?" Beastboy asks. Miss Martian elbows him. Ari laughs.

"I guess you could call me metahuman." She states. I'm glad she didn't say Amazonian. She fades out of diamond form, making me glad I made her wear the domino mask.

"So cool!" Lieutenant Marvel claps his hands together. To break the awkwardness from the awe, I get into giving them their mission.

***a few months later***

Nightshade and Batgirl are with me on Patrol. Riddler, Joker, and Cheshire have ambushed us with clowns and shadows. There is no time. Even if Nightshade move's fast enough, a single movement will unleash a hail fire of bullets. I look at her, trying to signal for her not to move but she moves anyways and the firing begins. I hear my child screaming so I basically go into panic-attack-father-mode but when I look to her, I see my daughter exploding with glittering energy. The energy she has been trying to use and control for years, trying to create a manifestation. But here it is, a field. The bullets are bouncing off it like they're nothing. I touch the field, it immediately repels my hand. When the firing stops, my daughter drops and the field disappears. I quickly move into action. I take down everyone in anger. Those that get past me and go for Ari are met with the force of nature that is Batgirl. She fights even faster than I do. Going for weak points with her agility. Once everyone it down, I take on Cheshire. Batgirl by this time has handcuffed Joker and Riddler. I didn't notice Nightshade get up, but now I see her in my peripherals, flying at a high speed directly at Cheshire and I. I take a step back and Nightshade takes down the assassin. I handcuff her and the police handle the rest. I look at my daughter and she looks like she is going to pass out. Before she does, Batgirl and I get her to the Batmobile. As soon as she gets in the car, lights out, head drooping.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Earth-16**

**North Pole**

**June 20, 2016**

The combined kinetic energy of Flash and Impulse is not enough. Kid Flash is carrying me at his top speed to the speedsters. I've convinced him I could stop the device if he got me close enough. So here we are, him running me to his fellow speedsters to save the world. He stops and lets me down. I go into diamond form to resist the cold and I immediately get to work. The other speedsters stop and get behind me. The field I generate begins as a massive dome, 15 feet around the vortex, cutting it off from the atmosphere. My strength is already beginning to slip away but I don't let that distract me. I make the field slowing shrink until it is a ball of vortex with the device at its core. I clap my hands together and the field collapses in on itself, destroying the device.

"Well, Nightshade, you just saved the world!" Impulse tells me. Kid Flash hugs me and Flash puts a hand on my shoulder. I smile, but a wave of exhaustion hits me and I collapse and everything goes black. After a while, I hear things.

"She's gonna be fine, Connor. She just blacked out. Does it at the Batcave a lot when she pushed herself too far when generating force fields." Tim says. I feel something touch my face and a heavy set of footsteps go out. I feel warm in the pit of my stomach. I feel the familiar thud of the Bioship landing and someone picks me up. They carry me off.

"Are we too late?" Superman asks.

"Fear not!" Aqualad announces. "The crisis has been averted." I hear him state. Whomever picked me up begins walking again.

"Batman!" I hear Nightwing call. "She's okay, but we need to get her back to the Batcave." he must be the one carrying me because I hear his voice in very close range. Batman sighs and I am handed over to him.

"Let's take her home. My presence is not necessary at Watchtower for now." Batman takes me and I go under again. When I wake up, I'm in a hospital bed, but I know better. I'm not in the hospital because police would ask questions. I look to the right and see my dad out of his cowl, sitting in a chair, leaning his head against his hand. His eyes closed.

"So," I wake him up, "how long have I been out?" I ask. He gets up and sits on the side of my bed.

"It's been a day. Saving the world really took it out of you." He laughs. "How do you feel?" He looks at me with concern. I sit up.

"A little stiff, but I'll be alright." I tell him. I swing my legs over the side and stand up slowly.

"So, the team has been granted permission to work out of the Watchtower." He tells me.

"That's great!" I get excited.

"You hungry?" We begin walking out of the room in which I realize we were in the medbay extension of the batcave.

"Oh, yeah." I smell something as we go up the elevator. "Please tell me Alfred is making waffles!" I grab my dad's arm.

"Even better, Barbara and Dick are." He gives me a smile. I jump and smile in excitement. There is even a small squeal that escapes my lips. Barbara and Dick may not be the gourmet chefs that Alfred is, but even he can't top Barbara and Dick's waffles. When we are inside the mansion, I start for my room upstairs.

"I'm gonna go change before eating. Are we doing anything today?" I ask.

"Nothing fancy. Maybe we can go the Graeter's Ice Cream later." He offers. I grin and make my way to my room. The bright blue walled room with white furniture and accents looks relaxing as the morning sunrise seeps through the windows. I go in my closet and put on sleeveless black button down and tuck it into high waisted cobalt blue shorts. I put my hair into a high ponytail and walk down to the kitchen. The smell of waffles smell like magic.

"Alright! Where are the chocolate chips? They were just here!" Tim begins yelling at Barbara and Dick.

"I swear! I didn't take them!" Barbara says and Dick laughs. I see the bag of chocolate chips behind Bab's back. I go invisible, sneak up, tap her hand so she knows I'm there, and grab the back. I re-appear, eating the chocolate chips.

"So, what's all this fuss about chocolate chips?" I say, making myself known. Dick starts laughing and Tim turns red in embarrassment. I set down the chocolate chips and grab a plate of waffles. I slather them in syrup, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and I go sit down. Alfred pours me a glass of Chocolate milk.

"Thank you, Alfred." I tell him as the rest of our lovely "Bat family" sits down and begins eating.

"So, who want's to shoot hoops after breakfast?" Dick asks everyone. Everyone raises their hand.

"Boys versus girls?" Tim asks.

"Unfair." Barbara laughs.

"For you?" Dick asks.

"For you." I tell The boys.

"Oh it's on." Tim smiles.

"Oh I think this game will be interesting." My dad looks at the doorway. I look to see who came. It's my mother.

"Diana!" I smile at my mom and her protege in civvies. I would yell 'mother' but no one other than my parents, Alfred, and I know.

"Cassie!" Tim get's up and hugs her intimately. I'm confused, but no one else seems to be.

"Cassie thought it would be nice for us to stop by." Diana says, looking right at my dad.

"Well, would you like to join our basketball game? It's boys against girls." My dad asks her. I notice the little sparkle in his eyes he always has when he sees her.

"Sure." She gets a look of competitiveness in her eyes.

"Count me out. I may be Wonder Girl but basketball is not my forte." Cassie laughs.

"Then it's even teams." Bruce smiles. We all finish our waffles and go outside. Due to the fact that my mother is wearing heels and I'm barefoot, we all pay without shoes. Girls get the ball first. Barbara passes to Diana, Diana passes to me and fly slightly so I can dunk.

"No fair! No powers!" Dick shouts.

"It's my natural ability!" I laugh. "What would you do if I told you not to use your acrobatic ability to dodge us when we try to take the ball?" I tell him.

"It's not superhuman acrobatics!" Dick shouts back. I just laugh as Tim intercepts a pass and dribbles down the court. He shoots, my dad jumps and dunks the shot. The two high five each other.

"There, now we are even." Dad laughs. The game continues with friendly fowls and cheating on the girls team with super strength and flight. In the end, the girls win without barely breaking a sweat.

"Well that was fun." Barbara smiles.

"I'm thinking it's Ice Cream time." I look at my dad.

"I agree. Does everyone want to come?" He asks.

"We're in." Diana and Cassie both say together.

"I'll go." Tim says.

"Dick and I will come too but afterwards, we gotta get back to our investigation on my lead on Vandal Savage." Barbara says.

"There's to many of us for a car so limousine or take different cars?" My dad asks everyone.

"I'm thinking limo because it would be nice for us all to spend more time together." I say. "Plus, I'm pretty sure everyone who would drive would be to afraid to scratch one of your cars." I add. People laugh.

"Good idea. I'll have the driver bring the limo around." My dad pulls out his phone and calls. I go upstairs and slide on a pair of black flats. I go down to the kitchen to pick up my own phone from the kitchen table. I have a text from Connor.

_You okay?_ It reads. I text back.

_Yeah woke up a few hours ago. _Surprisingly, he texts back within a few minutes.

_That's good. Do you think you'll be stopping by the Watchtower any time soon?_ The text asks.

_Maybe tomorrow. We could hang. _I tell him. He replies.

_Cool, see you tomorrow._ He texts. I put my phone in my pocket and face the rest of the group.

"Car's outside." Dad says. We all head out and pile in. I make sure I am between Diana and my Dad. The whole drive consist of Dick's bad jokes and Babs and Tim ridiculing him with the rest of us laughing. I notice Tim is holding Cassie's hand. They must have become a couple at some point. I just must not have been awake at that point. When we all get out, we enter Graeter's. People stare and take pictures, realizing who we are. My dad gives them all one look and they stop whispering about our whole motley crew. We all order. Babs and Dick share a cup of black raspberry chip, Tim gets a soft serve chocolate vanilla swirl, Cassie gets cookies and cream, My dad gets devils chocolate swirl, My mom gets caramel mocha, and I get cookie dough. We push some tables together and sit down. This is the first, complete, family affair for me. It's awesome to have us all on one place for once. My parents, the bat family, Cassie. It's perfect. When it's all over, we all load back up into the car, get home, and people begin to part ways. It eventually is just Tim, my dad and I.

"I gotta go into Wayne Enterprises. Emergency board meeting." He kisses me on the forehead and leaves. So, Tim plays video games while I change into workout clothes and go into the gym. I mount the uneven bars and go. The swinging, twists and turns help wake up my muscles. I dismount with a full and land on the blue mat. The gym is too quiet so I go to the sound system and plug my phone in. Music fills the room. The dubstep gives me a beat to do my gymnastics to. Something to practice time. Landings on the base, flips and leaps on other notes. It's actually quite fun. I get on the rings and get myself going. On the dismount, I'm just about to have a bad landing when I push myself into diamond form. I land with a thud and make an indentation on the floor. So much for concrete flooring in the gym. I pick myself up and unplug my phone. It's nine p.m. I get myself to my room and undress. I go into my bathroom and take a shower. When I get out and put on a crop top, sports bra and sweat pants. I find Tim in his room, still playing videogames.

"Do you want to make dinner or order it?" I ask him. He pauses his game and gets up.

"Can we order from that pizza place?" He asks. I groan.

"We had pizza a few days ago. How about Chinese?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"I want fried chicken." I look at him. No.

"How about no. I'm thinking we could order from Mon Ami." I tell him. He smiles.

"The Roquefort steak with frites?" He asks.

"You got it little bro." I smile and pull out my phone.

"Bonjour! Mon Ami on thirty second street. How may I help you?" A woman answers.

"Hi, May I place an order for delivery?" I ask.

"Yes you may!" She says so enthusiastically that I want to tell her to shut up. "So what would you like?" She asks.

"I take a Roquefort steak with frites and a Bordelaise steak, also with frites." I tell the lady, leaning against Tim's door frame. I see the contentment in his eyes. This is his favorite food.

"Will that be all?" She asks.

"Yup." I tell her. She still irritates me.

"Address?" She asks. Her voice is obscenely obnoxious.

"Ten zero seven, Mountain Drive." I automatically tell her. I don't know what I'll do if I move out. Maybe say this address first before correcting myself.

"Cash or credit?" She asks. I look it Tim and mouth cash or credit. He mouths back 'I have cash'.

"Cash. Thanks." I tell her.

"Alrighty then! Your order will be there so-" I hang up before she finishes. She is quite obnoxious. To wait, I sit with Tim and watch him play his video games. He's good but when I get my hands on the remote, I'm better. We play for about an hour when the doorbell rings.

"Miss Wayne! Master Tim! There is a delivery here for you!" Alfred calls from the door. Tim pulls out a few twenties and hands them to me. I run down to the door and meet the delivery guy.

"So how much do I owe you?" I ask. He hands me the receipt, staring.

"48.97." He says. I hand him three twenties and tell him to keep the change.

"So, you're Bruce Wayne's daughter?" He asks. His starring becoming an awkward gawking.

"Last I checked. You gonna keep staring or are you gonna go back to delivering food?" I tell him. He snaps out of it and walks away. "Thanks for the food!" I call back to him as he gets in his car. I shut the door and call Tim to the living room so we can eat out food with the TV. It's nice to get some brotherly sisterly bonding time before I get into senior year of high school.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Santa Prisca**

**June 30, 2016**

The team has sent me to follow Lex Luthor in hopes of finding more information on the Light, maybe even Vandal Savage. It started with me following Luthor around while invisible. I've been proven to not even be detected by his Cyborg, Mercy Graves, so I was the best choice to follow him. My dad protested at first, but Dick and Babs convinced him it was okay. Somehow, I wound up going from LexCorp to Santa Prisca. I trailed him for hours just to find out he was meeting Bane. But as we go out about the warehouse, I follow him and Bane into a room with multiple monitors. Within seconds, I am forced to hide in the shadows so I don't cast one of my own. It is a meeting with members of the light.

"I have called this meeting for instruction." Queen Bee speaks. "After Luthor takes final shipment of cobra venom, the Light must go to Apokolips via boomtube. We have been summoned by our partner." I press the recording device on my wrist.

"Yes, and he does not like to be kept waiting, so move quickly before he grows impatient." Vandal says.

"The shipment is ready to go, I just have to load it onto my jet." Luthor informs.

"Then do it and quickly. We need the shipment in our secure location before you are required to join the meeting with the partner." Ra's al Ghul orders.

"Then I better get to it. See you all very soon." Luthor says just as he turns off the monitors, cutting off his own transmission. I turn off the recording device. He walks out and I just go through the wall to avoid someone seeing a door 'opening on its own'. Luthor basically does as he said, but the only difference is that I see him activate a tracker on each of the crates. Either this is normal or he doesn't trust whomever is receiving the crates. I plant bugs next to the tracers so we can trace it's signal as well block it when necessary. As soon as the crates are loaded onto the plane, I follow Luthor and Mercy onto the Jet. As soon as they are secure, I phase through the floor into the cargo bay with the crates. I become visible and put myself on a secure network and call the team.

"Batgirl." Barbara answers.

"It's Nightshade. He picked up a shipment on cobra venom on Santa Prisca. I followed him and Bane into a room where they had a video conference with other members of the light. As soon as he drops off the shipment at a secure location, then take a boom tube to Apokolips for a meeting with their partner there. Vandal is with the partner on Apokolips currently. I also placed bugs to piggyback the transmission from the tracers Luthor placed on the crates." I report.

"Nice to hear from you. Most of us thought you got caught, but Batman told us to wait for you to contact us. Do not follow to Apokolips. As soon as you see the crated delivered, make your way to the nearest zeta tube and return to Watchtower for debriefing." She orders.

"Acknowledged and understood." I tell her as I hear footsteps coming down to the cargo bay. I turn off my comm and turn invisible. It's Mercy with two armed guards. She begins scanning the bay, so I phase up into the luxury cabin.

"I don't care what you think." Luthor is talking to a guard. "The pilot located an extra signal in the cargo bay. Do a thermal scan for all I care." He leans back in his seat and takes a sip of his drink.

"Yes, sir." The guard is compliant and begins scanning the cabin. Without thinking, I feel myself harden into diamond form as he scans. He makes a face.

"Did you find something?" Luthor glares at the man.

"There is a faint signature in the center of the cabin." He reports. Before he can scan again, I move and phase out of the plane, dropping altitude just enough to fly under the plane. After a few hours of flying, we are over North America. I phase back into the cargo bay and make myself comfortable behind a crate. I become visible and pull up my holo computer to play a few games, remaining offline after the pilot detected me the first time. After a while, the plane begins to descend. I go back invisible. When the plane lands, I stay on alert and away from Mercy as they load up the crates into trucks and drive to a warehouse. As I flew over the trucks to track the crates, I peeked at the lit up skyline against the night sky. I'm in metropolis. Once the crates were secure in the warehouse, I check my bugs to make sure feed me the tracking signal, then fly as fast as I can to all alley way and enter the zeta tube disguised as a phone booth. When I am in Watchtower, I am greeted by Nightwing.

"We were beginning to think we were going to have to come get you." He says as he elbows my arm as we walk up to Batgirl and the others.

"Well I'm fine. As you can tell, I can handle a covert mission." I glare at him. Following Luthor for a few days and almost 36 hours doesn't involve food or sleep, doesn't necessarily put me in a good mood. I access the league computer and upload my recording of Luthor's meeting with the light. Batgirl approaches me.

"Were there any complications in your mission?" She asks and I sigh.

"After I contacted you on the secure network, they started scanning the plane because the pilot apparently detected an additional signal in the cargo bay, where I was. I turned diamond as they did a thermal scan but I still had a very faint heat signature, so I had to fly outside of the plane for a while before going back into the cargo bay. Other than that, there were no complications." I tell her.

"Huh. Then I guess we are going to have to reconfigure our comms to be undetectable. But at least the line was secure so they couldn't hear anything." She shrugs it off.

"So, can I go home now? I need food and sleep." I ask her. She plays my recording.

"Sure but I'm calling you back in the minute we have an official plan, but that might not be for a while since it is off world. We need the Leagues permission for that." She tells me. I nod and head for the zeta tube. Someone touches my shoulder before I leave. I turn to see Connor.

"Hey, haven't seen you in a whi-" He starts but I cut him off by putting up my hand.

"Yeah, hi. Now we've seen each other. Now if you'll excuse me, my refrigerator beckons." I tell him and turn to enter the zeta tube, he grabs my wrist.

"Are you okay?" He asks me. As one of my best friends, he asks this from time to time. But now when he asks it, my stomach boils.

"I'm going home, Connor. It's been a long mission." I yank my hand away and zeta to the bat cave. I really thought I had a chance with Connor until he went back to M'gann. As much as I love them both, it bothers me too see them together like that. When they broke up, I helped Connor through it, and we bonded. After a while, I thought he would see me as something more that a friend. But that obviously didn't happen, so now I'm just getting over it. Once in my room, I strip off my Nightshade stuff and put it back in it's special compartment. I enter my bathroom and get in the shower. I stand in the hot water, washing away dust and dander from Lexcorp, scrubbing off the sweat and dirt from Santa Prisca, brushing my teeth to remove the taste of dust. I wash my hair and shave my legs. I hesitate at first, but then proceed to turn off the water. There is mental preparation for the cold bathroom involved before I step out of my shower. Lucky for me, I am quick to wrap up in a towel before I really feel the cold. As I stand in front of the closet, picking out clothing, there is a knock on the door.

"Miss Ari?" I hear Alfred. "Master Bruce requests you in the study."

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute." I say slightly loud to make sure he can here me through the door. I hear him walk away. I quickly put on a sports bra, tank top and athletic shorts, and brush out my wet hair. I grab my phone and head down stairs. I see my dad in the study, sitting at the part of the desk closest to the bookcase.

"Hi." I say as approach him. He stands up and hugs me. "What's this for?" I ask.

"As your mentor, I am proud to see you take on solo missions like that. But as your father, I don't like not seeing you for long periods of time." He releases me from the hug. I laugh.

"I feel loved. I'd feel even more loved if we could move to the kitchen." I put my hands together, grinning in hopes of him saying it's okay.

"Yeah, sure." He smiles and heads towards the kitchen. I bolt for the kitchen and start making a plate of nachos before he even enters the room. I munch on some carrots as the cheese melt on the chips in the microwave.

"So, you asked to see me. Was the hug it, or is there something you want to talk about?" I ask him. I see the look in his eyes. "There is something you want to talk about." I sigh as I pull out my nachos and start eating.

"You broke radio silence." He says. I'm guess he is referring to when I contacted Batgirl.

"Because Batgirl ordered me to contact her when I got anything on Vandal or the Light. Besides, they just detected the signal, they didn't intercept the transmission." I defend myself, then proceed to eat more nachos.

"You could have been caught." His voice slightly becoming his angry Batman voice.

"I know, and I wasn't. But this couldn't have been avoided. I wouldn't have been able to contact the team, and it's not like there was a Martian telepathically linked to me." I argue.

"You should have been more careful." He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"How much more careful could I have been? I was told it was a secure network. It's not my fault I didn't know the signal could tip someone off." My voice raises. But I calm myself down and continue to finish off my plate of nachos.

"You might have tipped them off to the fact that someone is watching them closely." He argues.

"How about you stop telling what could have gone wrong and the possible consequences and be happy I didn't get caught. I got the location of Vandal and their other partner, just be happy and move on." I snap. He just stands in silence, so I put my empty dish in the sink and lean on the counter. "I'm sorry, but all I did was follow orders and evaded detection to the best of my capabilities. So this shouldn't be an issue with you." I look him right in the eyes. Secretly hoping I don't get in trouble.

"You're right." He says. I am shocked but quickly recompose myself. "I am mad because if anything had happened to you, it would have been from my failure to train you properly." His face only goes soft for a minute, but the hardness of his voice remains.

"No, it was the comm. Your training along with my abilities is what kept me hidden." I tell him. "Let's just forget about it. It's not anyone's fault."

"Fine." He says as he opens the refrigerator. "Want some ice cream?" He asks.

"You bought a tub for the house?" I get a little excited.

"I bought three tubs. Cookies and cream for Tim, Chocolate for me, and Chocolate peanut butter for you." He informs me with a smile as he sets two tubs in between us in the kitchen island.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ariella's pov**

**Watchtower**

**June 31st, 2016**

Batgirl has called everyone in. When I got here, half the team was here, but as Batgirl makes us wait, even member's of the league shows up. From my observations, it's the mentors. Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman, Superman, Black Lightning, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Atom. But my observation become confused when Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Arrow arrive. Once all mentors and apprentices are here, Batgirl begins with my dad at her side.

"So, as our intel points out, Vandal has been on Apokolips. When the Light was called in for a meeting, we set up watches for them all over the globe. None of them have returned to our knowledge, so we must assume that they are still on Apokolips." She informs.

"This will be a League and Team mission." Batman begins. "We will infiltrate Darkseid's Fortress in stealth mode, and covertly observe. Speedsters on Patrol. Run fast enough to be undetected by sensors and cameras. Archers and Black Canary, get up high and be our eyes in the sky. Take out anyone who spots us, speedsters will move them. Canary, stay silent until it comes to a fight. We don't want to signal our presence until proven necessary. Kryptonians, Atlanteans and Wonders, we need you in the fortress nearby. If it comes to a fight and Darkseid shows up, we will need the strength. Same goes for Black Lightning and Static. Martians, you will come with the Bats to find Vandal and find answers." He orders.

"We will be going by boom tube." Batgirl instructs.

"Where did we get a boom tube?" Robin asks.

"That is not on a need to know basis." Nightwing says. Robin looks down.

"When do we leave?" Superboy asks.

"In an hour if all goes according to plan. Get prepared and be back here five minutes before departure." Batgirl says. The speedsters go off to stock up on energy bars, other's leave to go to the bathroom or eat something. I go to the Watchtower kitchen and eat some jerky and fruit. I am so not gonna starve on this mission if it runs long. I walk and around and eat. I hear someone come up behind me.

"Hey, you left a little abruptly yesterday." It's Connor.

"I had to get home. Got a problem with that?" I laugh and take a bite of jerky.

"No, but you seemed tense." He comments as he starts walking next to me.

"Well yeah, I sat on the floor of a cargo bay for eight hours." I remind him. He needs to let it go.

"It seemed more than just discomfort." He looks down.

"It was just discomfort." I tell him. It's not like I'm lying.

"Ari." He grabs my arm and we stop walking. "We haven't been talking much since the Reach left. Did I do something wrong?" He asks me. I remove his hand from my arm and I begin walking again.

"You did nothing wrong." I say quietly, but I know he can still hear me with his super hearing.

"Did I do something to offend you?" He asks. Literally the same question but a different word.

"No, nothing." I keep walking.

"Ari." He touches my shoulder. I stop but I don't turn to face him. "What's wrong?" It all builds up. I quickly face him.

"Connor!" I half shout. "Let it go!" He remains unfazed by my reaction so I phase right through him, He breathes funny in discomfort. I continue on walking as quickly as I can back to people. It's hard to be around him. I'm trying to get over him but it's proving a challenge. So they best thing for me right now is to stay away from him the best I can, but so far, I keep getting drawn towards him. Once back in the mission room, I sit and finish my food. I just sit and watch the others do their own thing to prepare for the mission. The speedsters are packing food as well as stuffing their faces. Martians are meditating. Even the Archers are stretching and stocking up on arrows. Canary is just sitting and drinking water, not speaking. The Atlanteans are off to the side, speaking their native tongue. The rest of the bat family approaches me.

"So, you ready to do your thing?" Tim asks. I nod.

"We don't know if Darkseid will be able to see you if we cross him. So far, not even superman can if you use diamond form and invisibility at the same time. But that may not shield you from Darkseid's omega sight." Dick tells me.

"Right, so maybe intangibility extending as well? Maybe his sight will pass right through me." I wonder.

"Could work, but you could also fall through the floor." Dick laughs.

"Flying added?" I ask.

"No, you could tire yourself out. Just stick to two at a time." Dad tells me. I nod my head. The next half hour is the longest of my life, but soon Barbara enters the center of the room with the boom tube device in her hand.

"Alright, heroes. Time to take a step closer to the light." She puns. A few people laugh, but many just keep their straight faces. The tube opens and we all begin going through it, one by one. I take a deep breath and disappear, following Tim to hell.

_Telepathic link established. _Miss Martian reports as most of us take in the scenery of a red sky and sulfur smelling atmosphere.

_Everyone, take positions._ Batgirl orders. I follow my dad into the Fortress.

_Alright Nightshade, time to disappear. _He orders and I obey. I run slightly ahead them to be somewhat of a scout just in case the speedsters don't get everyone. I run until I find the throne room. Inside is everyone we are looking for. I quickly fly up to the rafters and watch from above, relaying what I see into the telepathic link.

"We need your weapons to make an example of the heroes." Queen Bee speaks to the stony figure of Darkseid.

"And like I said before, I require the Venom for Desaad's research. It could hold the key to a problem he's been having with his experiments." Darkseid seems almost as stubborn and and hard headed as Superman. But he's not the ruler of a race of anti-life gods. So there's that.

"The venom hold too much importance in our plans. It will give us the edge we need when we build the army to force the League into submission." Lex Luthor states. I feel myself smile. They are spilling everything with me in the room.

"You could have a better army if you give it to my for Darkseid to perfect his test subjects." Darkseid tries to sway him.

"But the Brain calculated that it would be better for us to use it as is with humans already committed to our cause. Less disobedience among the-" Luthor stops to the sound of my hand slipping, the faint grind of my diamond skin against the metal beam. If I could hear my heart right now, It would be beating out of my chest.

"There can't possible be someone in here." Savage pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Similar thing occurred on my jet with the shipment of the venom." Luthor grumbles. "There was a ping of transmission, then a faint heat signature was found before it disappeared." Darkseid begins scanning the room with glowing red eyes. I begin to have a mini panic attack.

"There is nothing to fear." Darkseid says, but I only realize he is lying when it's too late. With one look, I am hit by his omega beams. I fall from the rafter with a thud, leaving an indentation in the floor.

"There has been someone following you, Luthor." Klarion laughs as I am picked up by Darkseid.

"I see nothing but there is an extraordinary creature in my grasp." Darkseid laughs. With a squeeze of his fist, I become visible, out of diamond form. "A girl? Really?"

"Funny how things work out." I say in a seductive tone. I'm eternally grateful for acting classes. My fear is skillfully hidden.

_Everyone converge on Nightshade's point! _Batgirl orders.

_No! I can get out of this. _I tell her.

_Hold positions. _She sighs in my head.

"You will be interrogated." He laughs. I give him a smile.

"Not likely." I laugh before I phase out of his hand, turn invisible and fly out of the room, through the door, and back to my dad.

_Let's get out of here before there is a fight!_ I shout into the link.

_Fall back to the entrance point._ Batgirl orders. We all meet and go through the boom tube just fast enough to get away from the enraged psychopath that is Darkseid. Back in the Watchtower, I sit on the floor as Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl talk about how disappointing it was not to get to fight. My dad keeps giving me a look. I messed up and he is disappointed in me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**The Batcave**

**June 31st, 2016**

"We were barely there for twenty minute and you blew our cover!" He yells at me. I sit in the chair in front of the supercomputer. He nearly dragged me by my ears to the zeta tube so I wouldn't be in front of anyone. "You were invisible and you blew our cover!" He shouts. I just sit and wait for it to be over. "things could have gone south and people could have gotten hurt!" He shouts. This sets a nerve.

"I was told I needed to be invisible as well as in diamond form. I could have not touched anything. I could have flown but YOU told me not to! I could have held out long enough but YOU told me I couldn't!" I snap at him and get up. I begin to head up to the manor.

"Do not walk away from this, young lady! We aren't done here!" He shouts. The elevator locks up. Instead of facing him and yelling at him for trying to keep me here, I phase straight through the elevator doors and fly up the elevator shaft. From there, I fly to my room and lock the door. It hits me like I flew into a brick wall, the wave of disappointment and self loathing. Mission after mission, I've done something wrong. Mission after mission I've had to sit through scolding and lectures. It's like I can't get through a single mission without doing something wrong or messing something up. So, I strip off my Nightshade stuff and sit in the bathtub. At first I just sit in the emptiness of the tub, but I begin to feel cold so I run the water. Filling the tub until I can lay down without it overflowing. After an hour of bathing and scrubbing away the filth and disappointment of my latest mission, there is a knock on my bedroom door. I climb out and just stand, wrapped in my towel, in silence near the door.

"Miss Ari?" It's Alfred.

"Would you like some tea? Or any food?" He asks. I stay silent. I don't want to talk to anyone. "I'm going to make you a sundae with caramel and hot fudge and when I return with it, I expect you to open the door." He says and I hear him walk away. I pull on a waffle shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Might as well be dressed if he comes back. I brush out my wet hair and sit on my bed. After ten minutes, there is a knock on the door. When I open it, it's my dad with the sundae. I slam the door shut, then phased my arms through and pull the sunae through the door. I sit on the floor and start eating.

"Come on, Ari." He pleas through the door. I stay silent. When I'm done eating, I have an epiphany. _Rebellion._ I get up and blow dry my hair. I put it into a slightly voluminous french braid and slip on a black cage back bralette with gold high waisted glitter shorts. I step into my tallest pair of black pumps and tuck my phone, fake I.D, and credit card into the waistband of my short and get all dolled with dark makeup and jewelry. As soon as I'm done, I turn invisible, fly out around the house and into the garage. I go through all of the cars and find the most expensive one. The lamborghini veneno. My dad would kill me if I even took it up and down the driveway. I pull the keys out of the glove compartment, rev, the engine, and use all of my strength to phase the entire car through the garage door. I immediately hit over 100 mph and race my way to downtown Gotham. I find my way to a club and hide the car in a garage across the street. Before heading inside, I take out a bunch of cash from an ATM so my dad can't track my purchases. I approach the bouncer of the club.

"Identification?" He asks me with boredom. I pull out my fake I.D. and show it to him like I've done it a million times. He waves me in and as soon as walk past the door, my body floods with the bass of the music. It's heaving and intoxicating. I love it. The first thing I do is go to a bar. After about six shots, a guy approaches me. He's one hot blondie.

"Hey!" He shouts over the music. I laugh.

"Hey there!" I shout back. He realizes why I was laughing.

"Wanna dance?!" He asks, trying to make sure I heard him over the music. I knock back my seventh shot and nod. He puts his hand out and I take it. He leads me to the center of the dance floor. As soon as I start dancing, he get's excited and gets into it with me. I realize he is actually a great dancer, isolating and pulsing. I eventually start dancing on him. After a few songs, black lights turn on and people start spraying each other with neon paint. We dance with our newfound color and euphoria. A waitress comes by with a tray of test tubes glowing in the light.

"Thank you." I tell her in a funny tone as I grab four, two for me and two for him. We knock them back and continue dancing. After a few more songs, he leans into my ear to say something.

"Do you want something to drink?" He asks. I nod.

"Straight Bacardi! If they don't have it, I'm just in the mood for rum!" I tell him as I keep dancing. He smiles and weaves through the people to get back to the bar. I grab a few more test tubes before he comes back. When he finally does, I grab my drink from his outstretched hand. "Thanks!" I tell him. We drink and dance. The fun part is when he pulls two small pills out of his pocket.

"Want some?" He asks, popping one in his mouth.

"What is it?" I ask, eyeing the pills.

"Just ecstacy." He smiles, slowly slipping to cloud 9. I nod and let him put it in my mouth. I slowly slip away. Everything becomes more vibrant, colors brighter and the music begins to fill me. It becomes my fuel. I need the music. The next thing I do is completely unplanned. When my lips meet his, it's sweet and intense all at the same time. When we finally pull away I begin dancing on him. I feel him pull me close and run his hands over my body. We go on feeling each other and dancing with the occasional makeout session. I must be so high that I don't even feel how hammered I am. When the pill slowly begins to wear off, I become incapable of functioning so we find a booth and I lay down across the seat. He lays opposite me with out heads touching. I don't really know what he is doing but I reach out to the lights above, as if I can feel them. Suddenly there is a pair of arms picking me up.

"Okay, Ari. Time to take you home." The familiar voice says. He's basically dragging me since my feet aren't really moving. But, he seems to have no problem carrying me.

"I want another drink." I frown and reach out to the bar. He shouldn't have been able to hear my but sure enough.

"I think you've had enough for tonight." He laughs. I know that laugh from somewhere.

"It's not even one yet." I pout. He just moves his arm and picks me up bridal style.

"It's five o'clock in the morning." He laughs even harder.

"Well then the sun isn't up yet and I need another drink." I frown.

"No you don't. I'm taking you home. Where did you park your car?" He asks.

"I'll tell you if you let my buy another drink." I tell him. I have craving for Svedka… or maybe tequila?

"Fine." He immediately says. I smile.

"It's the veneno in the parking garage next door." I tell him. "Now let my buy a drink." He drags me through the door.

"No. I'm taking you home." He says sternly. I frown and try to look at his face. The lights outside are too bright and dazzling for me to see his face, but I see a familiar tuft of black hair.

"You're no fun." I grumble. When he finally finds the car, he opens the door and sets my inside. Buckles my seatbelt and just before he closes the door, I lean over and throw up on the pavement. Lucky for him, he jumped back fast enough to avoid vomit on his shoes. He shuts the door and climbs into the drivers seat. I begin to fade in and out as he drives me home. When the car finally stops, he lifts me out and carries me bridal style once again. I hold on to consciousness just long enough for him to enter my house and meet my dad.

"I'm glad you called me and told me. I found her in a very bad part of town and as you can tell, she's drunk." He says. It's almost a little too loud for comfort.

"Stop shouting." I say. But the slur makes it sound a bit more like _stup shotting._ I fight the heaviness of my eyelids too see my father's disappointment. I ignore it and allow myself to slip away into my exhaustion. I feel the mystery guy go up a set of stairs and then laying in my bed. The sleep sets in heavily and I'm out. So heavy that it's mind numbing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Wayne Manor**

**2016**

Before I can even open my eyes, the exploding headache makes me grimace and roll into my pillow. I feel a warm hand on my shoulder, moving me away from the pillow. I open my eyes and am blinded by the sun coming through my window. I immediately shut them.

"Close the damn drapes! It's blinding!" I shout and the shadows cover my face. When I open my eyes, I am expecting the worst. The vision of my disappointed father is all too real. But when I open my eyes, It's Connor, and I'm wearing pajamas.

"How are you feeling?" He asks but I ignore it.

"What the hell are you doing here? You shouldn't know who I am!" I yell at him. He just keeps doing what he's doing, sitting on the side of my bed. The door opens and my dad comes in.

"What's going on?" He asks. My eyes widen and I put out my hand to gesture to my dad as I look at Connor.

"You shouldn't even know who the hell my dad is!" I yell. I realize there is a small smirk on his face, he must be biting his tongue.

"I called him." My dad speaks. "I knew you would have run off the second I showed up so I called your best friend. That happened to be Connor." He tells me.

"Sir," Connor starts, "I personally don't think she was in the state to fight back, even if it were you who showed up." My dad glares at him, but he faces me. "And you, your dad only said you were Ariella Wayne. He only told me he was Batman, Bruce Wayne, because I didn't know if I should trust him or not." He explains, my dad nods.

"Fine." I grumble. "You," I gesture to my father, "get out."

"I get it, you're still mad." He says. I throw a pillow at him, he dodges and walks out. Connor sits down next to me as I sit up in my bed. My head is pounding.

"You know you don't have to stay. You got me home." I avoid his gaze as I curl up.

"I know. But I want to make sure you're okay." He pulls the blanket over my feet. The small contact of his thumb over the top of my foot sends a shiver through my feet.

"I'm fine. It's time you went back home to M'gann." I tell him as I put my hands to my temples. I shut my eyes as if to shut out the headache. But I feel him shift closer to me, his hands pulling mine away from my head. I open my eyes and look past him.

"Now, why would I leave when you are at home, sick?" He asks me.

"I saw the two of you together. I know you got back together." I tell him, my hands still in his.

"What?" He genuinely sounds confused.

"I know she and Lagoon Boy broke up and Tim saw the two of you holding hands when I was out after the Reach." I tell him, pulling my hand out of his.

"You don't know, though." He laughs lightly as he takes my head in his hands, making me look into his fathomless blue eyes. "I told her we could only be friends, that things wouldn't work out between us." I melt.

"Why would you tell her that?" I ask sheepishly.

"Because it's the truth… and I have feelings for someone else." and with that he kisses me gently. When he pulls away, he actually looks nervous. I push myself into him and kiss him with a passion he held back with the first kiss.

"I was starting to think you didn't think of me that way." I comment as I pull away.

"I was starting to think you hated me." He smirks.

"I never hated you." I smile at him. He sits with me as I lay down getting over my hangover. We talk quietly to not fuel my headache. I put my hair in a ponytail and pull out my laptop. We sit and watch a movie as my headache fades. There is a churn in my stomach and I sit up.

"What's wrong?" He asks, but I think he might already know. I scramble out of my bead and into the bathroom, hurling into the toilet. It's a mixture of alcohol and water. I feel him come up behind me and put a reassuring hand on my back as I hurl. When I finish, I push him away to brush my teeth. He takes the hint and goes back into my bedroom.

"I'm alright now." I tell him.

"Do you think you can eat now?" He asks. I notice him sitting on my bed.

"I can try." I tell him. He smiles and I lead him down to the kitchen. I watch him marvel at the manor as we make our way through the place.

"I haven't been here since Dick's birthday party so long ago." He tells me.

"Yeah, I remember that. My dad had me stay at the penthouse downtown so no one would see me." I laugh. He smiles.

"Your dad really is something isn't he?" He says and I nod as we enter the kitchen. I grab some cereal and sit down with Connor. He has helped himself to one of the pastries Alfred made the other day. I take a bite of the cereal as Connor watches me attentively. I swallow.

"Well," I start, "no sign of upchuck so I think I'm okay." I tell him. He smiles.

"Good." He takes another bite out of his pastry. After we finish breakfast, we go back up to my room to figure out what to do know until we are called back in.

"So…" I look at him from my bed.

"So…" He replies from the chair across the room, awkward space between us. That kiss may have started things, but the way things will continue is still undetermined.

"We could go into town." I offer, but he shakes his head.

"You could get sick again. How about we just watch a movie?" He asks.

"J-just you a-and me?" I ask. Nervous to be alone with him in a dimly lit room, side by side.

"Sure, what could go wrong?" He looks at me with a smirk.

"Alright, movie it is." I sigh and we head downstairs into the theatre. He picks a comedy and we just sit and watch, laughing every five minutes.

"You know, we haven't watched a movie together in a while." He refers to when we used to hang out one on one at the cave when he had just broken up with M'gann. I turn to look at him.

"You're right." I start looking at his lips. I notice him lean in but I look away before anything can happen. I don't want everything to happen too quickly, you can't rush things like this. But I give him a smile and lean into him. He lets me lay on him as we continue to watch the movie.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Watchtower**

**July 4th 2016**

It's the annual anniversary party of the founding of the Team. So, naturally, the freshmen are running wild and the rest of us are just chilling. The only bummer is that Connor is all the way across the room. We decided not to tell anyone yet until we made things serious and official. So for now, the only time we have alone together to hang out is when he drops by the manor to see me.

"Hey, Ari." Dick says as he approaches me, two red solo cups in hand.

"Hey, Dickie." I smile and take the drink he brought me. It's nice to see my brother in an informal setting. But the sunglasses indoors is still a pet peeve of mine that he continues to do to hide his identity after all these years.

"Have you been accepted by colleges yet?" He asks me.

"I got into Yale for Law and Business and Université de Caen Basse-Normandie in France. I'm not supposed to hear from any until maybe the middle of first semester of senior year." I remind him.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." He sighs. "When do you start school anyway?" He asks.

"The seventh of September." I tell him. He raises an eyebrow.

"After labor day? You would think Gotham Academy would atleast try to be a week earlier than that." He sighs.

"Well that's the school board for you." I laugh. "So, any interesting solo missions lately?" I ask, but before he can answer, Batman shows up to the party.

"Sorry to interrupt the festivities, but I have a mission for the present member's of the Team." I hear my dad say. "And it requires you to stay in your civilian clothing." He instructs. People put down their food and drinks and we all convene in front of the holo computer.

"So, what do you need us to do?" Bart asks.

"I need you all to scatter among the crowds at the Protest of the senate's choice in the drone act in Washington, D.C. I have been tracking high profile villains, and all clues on their activities converge there, today." He tells us. Everyone seems a bit stand offish.

"Which high profile criminals?" Bumble Bee asks.

"Does it matter?" He asks her. She just looks down but I step up.

"Yes, I think it does matter." I speak up. I notice everyone tense up when Batman gives me a look. But when his mouth opens, I know it isn't to scold me.

"If I recall correctly, and I believe I do," My dad starts, "The injustice league has recruited some new members." He stares right at me but I hold my ground.

"So basically, our larger team will still struggle just like last time when our team of five plus wolf had to take on seven heavy hitters and the only way we won was because someone put on the helmet of fate?" Dick asks Batman.

"You have all undergone rigorous training since them. There is not only a chance of surviving, there is a chance of winning if you are engaged as well as planning your attacks strategically." He says to all of us. I see that Bart and Jaime are nervous.

"Hey," I look at all of them, but keeping my eye contact with Connor, "We have more of our own heavy hitters and strategists. No one will be caught off guard this time." I inspire.

"She's right. Let's not let what happened in the past keep us from stopping villains. No matter who it is." He smiles.

"Alright team, wait fro psychic linking, then get to your assigned partners for missions like undercover surveillance and move out!" Aqualad orders.

_Link established. _M'gann says in my mind. I see Connor get to Mal and they head out to Zeta tube. Lucky for me, I'm partnered with my big brother for this. It's always a heavy hitter with a human or someone with a defensive ability. Since I am versatile, they just stuck me with Nightwing. After we zeta out, I report our position.

_Nightwing and Nightshade are taking the sewers to get to location. _I think. I still think it's weird that I just have to think and they'll hear it. It's kinda cool.

_Understood. Take caution since the capital has high security. Avoid cameras, even if you are in the sewer. Be on the lookout. _I head Aqualad say, and with that, I take Dickie and phase down into the sewers so we can be hidden in the dark until we can emerge in an alley close enough to the protest. We run as fast as possible and go stealth as soon as we spot camera's. We are close to the senate building. I turn invisible and phase through the concrete just above me to peek at our surrounding. I come down and look at my brother.

"The closest alley way is 15 meters east." I tell him. He pulls up sewer schematics on his holo computer and plans a route. I follow him and we emerge to the surface. I pull the Gotham Knights baseball cap out of my back pocket of my shorts and pull it on, low to shadow my face. My brother puts on his sunglasses.

"Let' get over to a strategic point." I says as he looks at the crowd.

"I think we either get up high in a tree or we get the the front of the crowd." I suggest.

"Let's go for the second option." He gives me a crooked smile and we weave through the crowd and get set up with a good view of the rest of the crowd.

_Is everyone in position? _I hear Aqualad. There is a unanimous 'yes' from everyone. _Keep an eye out. Batman wanted us here for a reason. _Dickie and I are just keeping watch when I spot a face a know too well, the blonde pigtails are unmistakable with her wide eyes and giant smile. But before I can say anything, someone else makes a report.

_Guys, this isn't good. I've spotted Sportsmaster. _Jaime says in the link. I'm beginning to get nervous.

_What if she sees me? What if she recognizes me?_ I accidentally say into the link.

_What if who sees you? _Connor immediately says to me.

_It's Harley Quinn. She is here,but I don't know why I thought that. It just slipped when I saw her. _I say with confusion. It's true, I don't understand why I'm worried about her recognizing me, I've never met her.

_Keep an eye on her. _Babs says to me in the link. _No doubt there are more of them around here. _She says.

_Spoke too soon, Batgirl. I've spotted Shimmer. _Tim reports.

_I've got a Lady Shiva creeping around the crowd._ Bumblebee adds.

_So the league of shadows is sending people in? _Bart asks.

_Maybe_. Batgirl grumbles.

_I've got a Black Spider in Civilian clothing. _Dickie groans into the mind link.

_Superboy, we've got a glint on the building across the way. _Aqualad says. There is a pause, then Connor.

_You're not going to like this, but I've got a male with a red, cybernetic eye. _He reports. I mentally groan.

_Deadshot. I swear to god, if Captain boomerang, King Shark and Killer Frost show up, it'll be suicide squad all over again. _I growl.

_Specifically task force X. _Dick grumbles. I notice Harley move from her spot, a shiny knife in hand. Oddly enough, I freeze in fear. This shouldn't be happening. The grinning freak is getting closer, while not making any eye contact or even acknowledging my presence.

"Dick." I whisper out loud so I don't say this in the mind link.

"What?" He ask. Harley is getting closer and I can't bring myself to even move a muscle.

"It's Harley. Why am I afraid?" I ask him, feeling my eyes grow wider by the second.

"I don't know." I hear the faint faulter of his voice. Harley veers off course and kisses a man with tinted hair and a purple ball cap on.

"Dick, I've lived with you long enough to know when you are lying." I can't even bring myself to look at him. She is so close to me that it makes me a statue and I don't even know why! What is wrong with me!

"Now is not the time Ari." He whispers. I can hear Harley's squeal of joy over the chanting protesters.

"What are you not telling me?" I half whisper half shout at him.

"It's not the time to discuss this. Ask Bruce once we are off mission." He tells me. I grumble.

"Fine." I reply. The man holding Harley takes off his purple cap and reveals a mop of green hair. My heart falls and I let out an involuntary whimper. Now I see the edges of his face without the shadow of the cap. White face paint contrasting his vile green hair.

_No. Not him. Why does it have to be him?_ I ask myself. Not even realizing that the other's can hear me.

_Who? _Aqualad asks. He barely sounds worried.

_Ar- Nightshade. Who do you see? _Connor sounds worried.

_Snap out of it! Who do you see? _Dick steps into my gaze, gripping my shoulders.

_Why am I afraid?_ I whisper mind my mind, barely audible by the others. Dick shakes my shoulders, causing my hat to fall off my head. He then moves out of the way to follow my gaze to the source of my fear.

_I have to get her out of here right now before they see her. _Dick says quickly. I begin to tremble and Harley looks around the crowd and double takes at me. She smiles wide and points me out to him.

_Joker…_ I think confusedly into the mind link.

_The Joker is here? _Tim begins to freak out. _Dick! Get her out! _What do they know that I don't? What is making me so afraid? The Joker and Harley are ten feet away. Dick stands in front of me. He thinks I can't protect myself, which might be true. I can't bring myself to move.

"Ariella Wayne. Long time no _see_." He says with a bone shattering chuckle. I give him a blank look. I have no idea what he is talking about. My dad barely lets me go on missions involving the Joker.

_Joker has made contact! Connor, I'm gonna need you to get her out of here. _Dick says into the link.

_I can get her out faster! I can fly her out! _Cassie says.

_No, the dust on the ground around her feet is rising. She is propelling herself in place. _Dick snaps at her.

_Then why Connor?_ She asks. But no one answers. Dick must know.

"Oh, puddin! She must not _remember_." Harley giggles. I feel like my mind is going numb. I see Connor trying to get over to me through all of the people. Joker starts laughing so hard, I was beginning to think he would fall over.

"Oh this is too good! She doesn't remember! Daddy Bruce must have paid a fortune to make that happen. It was something very hard to _forget_." He manages to taunt me while laughing his ass off.

"You aren't going to touch her." Dick growls at the clowns.

"Really? But she's part of the plan. It's seems we knew _Nightshade_ would show up if we did something large enough to draw attention from the league." He smiles wider and wider by the second. I try to say something but it comes out as a shaking whimper. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Connor is almost to me. He came from all the way on the other side of the protest of thousands of people.

"Ari! We're leaving! Now!" Connor calls to me as he comes through our small clearing of people.

"Ari! You're not going anywhere." Joker laughs. Connor is about to grab me to pull me away when I hear a gunshot and everyone dropping to the ground but the villains. I touch my side and look at Connor. His face is worrying me. But then, I look at my hand. I'm bleeding. Everything goes black.


	8. Chapter 8

**Flashback**

**Ariella Wayne**

**Gotham**

**December 25, 2011**

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" A twelve year old me squeals and jumps on her father's bed. _I remember this_. I think to myself. _I waited until three in the afternoon to wake him up because he ran late on patrol._ I dance around on his bed until he breaks into a smile and rolls out of bed. I jump off the bed but with bad trajectory, causing myself to go diamond and clobber the floor with a massive _thud._ My dad laughs as I scramble up from the ground and run as fast as I can to the living room where we have a massive christmas tree set up. I see Dick jumping up and down with a camera by the tree, getting pictures of all of us.

"Master Bruce, why don't the three of you each grab an average sized present and I'll get a picture of the three of you together?" Alfred asks.

"Sure." My dad smiles and yawns. I grab a present with shiny wrapping paper and a giant bow. I stand in front of my dad and brother and smile as wide as possible. Alfred takes the picture and begins documenting out Christmas and what presents everyone gets. When I finally tore into the last box, it was a floor length (which isn't that long since I was about 4'4) silver gown with a red sash around the waist.

"What's this for?" I ask with excited uncertainty.

"There is a christmas gala tonight and normally, Bruce Wayne wouldn't go to one of these. But, maybe he would take his family there." He smiles. I've never been in a formal setting with my dad. Nor has he ever let anyone outside the immediate family see me up close.

"Little sister's debut! I want to sit next to her." Dick goes from excited to serious in a matter of seconds.

"You want to do this?" My dad asks me.

"Yes." I smile with such excitement that I accidentally float off my spot on the ground. "I promise I won't do that around other people." I look down sheepishly. When we've had breakfast, we get ready to the park the enjoy the snow with other families of Gotham. Once we all have our coats, hats and gloves on, we get into the back of a car. Alfred drives us and drops us off to have fun in the park. I immediately run out of the car to run around with Dick.

"Stay where I can see you!" My dad yells. As any child would, I find the perfect spot to flop down in the snow and make a snow angel. I notice myself giggling. Soon, my tongue is out and letting the snowflakes fall on it and I make my angel. It's all nice and chill until Dick throws a snowball at me. I scramble to my feet and throw my own at passerbyer would see that we are quite the agile children. Bobbing and weaving to dodge each other's shots. But, it's all fun and games until Dick accidentally hits dad with a snowball. We freeze in fear. But he just picks up a snowball and joins into the fight. It becomes all out war.

"Snow-mageddon!" Dickie shouts as he pelts me. I run squealing in the opposite direction and hide behind a tree, making snowballs and stocking up on them in the hood of my coat like arrows in a quiver. I begin to forget what happens next. Now I can only wait as the memories unfold.

"You know, If you pack them tighter, they'll hold together better before impact." A man says behind me. I try it and test it on a tree. It explodes on impact without even sprinkling while airborne.

"Thanks, Mister." I smile and look at the man clad in purple and green. He smiles wide at me and we squat down and make snowballs. He helps me make enough to wage a war on a small country.

"You're getting good at making the snowballs." He says to me in a nice tone. I look up from my snow ammo to get a good look at him.

"Thank you." I give him a nice smile. I notice his green hair. "I like your hair and makeup." I comment. It really goes with his suit. Kinda like a clown but questionable smile.

"It's not makeup but thank you. Not many people appreciate it." He tells my in a calm voice. But I can already tell that he I trying to suppress a laugh that I have yet to hear.

"They don't appreciate it because they aren't unique like we are." I tell him, just happy as can be. If that is his face then maybe other's can't see past it. So far, I think he is pretty nice. People must not give him the chance he probably deserves.

"No one has ever put it like that before for me." He actually seems touched. His giant smile fighting to get bigger.

"I'm unique because I'm smarter than most kids my age. They think I'm weird." I frown, finishing putting the snowballs into my hood.

"The best people I know are weird." He says. I look at him and decide that he is right.

"Ari!" I hear my dad call in the distance. "Where'd you go?" He calls.

"Well, I better get back." I tell the clownie man, he nods. "I never caught your name."

"My friends call me Joker. What's your name?" He asks me before I go.

"Ariella Wayne." I say with confidence.

"That's a lovely lovely name." He giggles like it's the best thing he's heard all day. I laugh a little from him being so funny and bubbly. I notice my Dad out of the corner of my eye.

"Ari, you need to come here." My dad says smoothly, not taking his eyes of the clownie man. I see strain on his face, like he is forcing himself to be calm.

"But, I made a friend." I make a pouty face. Joker was being nice to me and I don't meet many people, being homeschooled and all.

"Ari, _now._" He orders. I start to walk but Joker grabs my arm.

"Let me go." I yank my arm, trying not to expose my super strength.

"Now why would I do that?" He chuckles and sticks me with something. I rip my arm away as forcefully as possible but I'm already feeling drowsy when I collapse into the snow.

"DADDY!" I scream before I fade. I feel the joker grab my ankle and drag me through the snow until he can throw me over his shoulder.

"Ari!" My dad begins to chase after us but before I know it, someone throws a smoke bomb and everything goes black. When my eyes open, I am in a dark room with chains around my right ankle connected to the wall.

"So you're awake. Mista Jay will be so very pleased to see you all settled in, Puddin." A blonde woman with pigtails approaches me, hand extended. "Name's Harley. Harley Quinn." I refuse her hand with a slight animalistic impulse that manifests as a growl. I notice her abnormal choice in red and black clothing. She smiles, laughs, and leaves the room. In her place, comes Joker.

"So are you 'mista jay'?" I ask him. He nods.

"I see that you may be uncomfortable, but don't worry darlin. You'll get used to it." He laughs. I feel the remainder of the drugs wear off and shift into diamond form, ripping my leg out of the chains confining me. "You're a pretty one aren't you!" He snarls. The mistake, was turning human again, he stabs me just below the left shoulder blade and then injects my arm once again. "We're just gonna have to keep you mildly sedated for this to work." He says before he walks out of the room, chuckling to himself. I stumble to the door and phase through it before I fain. I hold on just enough to see Joker kick me back into my prison. The rest is a blur of pain and torture in a failed attempt to recondition me. I come to just enough to remember the Joker cutting my skin and and Harley coming in to electrify me. The beating are hard to remember exactly what happened, but I remember the pain and seeing the bruises on myself. I even remember them leaving the door open one night and Harley's hyenas finding their way into my room. One night, a dark figure broke into my prison cell of a room and finds me on death's door in a reasonably large puddle of my own blood with a bullet in my side. He checks my pulse, then carries me out of the house and rushes me to a hospital. I remember fighting the doctors trying to put me under for surgery, then waking up in a hospital bed, not even noticing my father and brother in the room. I panick and rip all the IVs out of my arm, falling out of the bed and running out of the room. Pushing through everyone in my way to get somewhere safe.

"Ari! Wait!" My dad chases, but I can't handle myself. Doctors in my path try to calm me down, to stop me. But I keep running until I'm in the basement, curled up against a wall. The words ringing in my head.

"I can suppress the memories for now, she will remember when she is ready. The scars will heal but her mind won't if I don't do this." J'onn's voice echoes in the memory.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Washington D.C.**

**July 4th 2016**

I know I'm dreaming right now. I have to be, considering there is no way they shot me. I don't think there is even a remote possibility that Deadshot hit me right between my ribs, puncturing my left lung and grazing my heart, the bullet exiting my back only to make a small crater in the pavement behind me. That didn't happen because I didn't feel it. I would know if I got shot, so the dream continues. The blur of people around me. Connor holding my hand, struggling to keep a straight face. I see Dick too. He is opposite Connor. I must be dreaming that I am on a gurney or something, because there are doctors around me, but the world around them is moving.

"They're going to put you under and take you to surgery, okay?" Connor says. His voice distorted.

"Okay." I sigh. It's just a dream. They can do what they want. "I love you, Connor." I smile. He looks shocked. "And I will tell you when I wake up." I say but the words slow down towards the end of my sentence. My eyes feel heavy.

"I love you too, Ari. I'll see you when you wake up from surgery." He tells me as my eyes close. The black is so inviting that it's just like falling asleep. But this is where I realize that I wasn't dreaming and the panic sets in. I am screaming inside of myself until my thoughts melt away and I am mentally numb.

**July 7th**

The first thing I hear is the beeping of machines. The first thing I feel is the tube in my throat that is irritating me to my core. Then, I feel the pain in my chest. Tears stream down my cheeks as I begin the hyperventilate very noisily.

"Hey, hey. You're fine. I'm here." I hear Connor say as he holds my hand. I yank them away and I open my eyes to see a single light on me, and the rest of the room engulfed in shadows and the night sky peering in through the window. I'm still hyperventilating, I'm in pain and the memories are flooding through my mind. Every horrible part of what happened burning in my mind. Connor runs back into the room with a doctor.

"Hello, Ms. Wayne. Do you want me to remove the tube?" He asks and I nod my head through the tears. "Okay, I'm upping your dose of pain medication as we speak…" He says as he fiddles with my IVs and looks at the monitors. He grabs the tube going down my throat. "On three, okay?" He asks. I put my thumb up. "One… two…" and before he get's to three, he starts removing the tube. I gag and sputter as it comes out.

"You okay?" Connor asks. I glare at the doctor.

"I'm fine now. I need you to get out, and come back in ten minutes. Got it?" I rasp from my bed with an angry and forceful tone. The doctor just walks out.

"What was that about?" Connor asks. I try to sit up but it hurts so I stay down.

"I have to get home." I tell him, I am drifting back into the memories. Their laughs and J'onn's words ringing in my head. The pain of every wound, burning in my thoughts. After a while, the doctor returns.

"You can't and I won't take you no matter what you say to me." He says. I look at him like he's crazy.

"You don't understand, I have to get out of here." I try to get up again but he pins me down. I kick him away and sit in silence and recompose myself. I can't be crazy, people will know somethings up. They can't know I remember. The Doctor returns.

"So, Ms. Wayne. The path of the bullet only graces your heart but the damage to the exterior of it as well as your lungs was repaired to the best of our abilities, therefore, you will be fine as long as you don't participate in any extraneous activity until you are cleared by your physician back in Gotham. When your father gets to the hospital, you will be discharged into his custody to be transferred to Gotham General. Right now, we were notified that he is delayed due to the fact that all flights are grounded from a thunderstorm with high winds. Any questions?" He asks. I get ready to be normal.

"Yeah. When you say extraneous activity?" I ask, thinking about my duty to the city of Gotham.

"The outer lining of your heart was thinned from the grazing. We added a graft, but it won't heal properly if strained. You cannot participate in athletics, sexual interactions, or be in stressful environments." He tells me in all seriousness.

"What was that second one?" I laugh. Connor tenses up and the doctor looks impatient. "But in all seriousness, I do gymnastics. So not even the beam?" I ask. The doctor nods his head. I sigh.

"It may not cause a completely sped up heart rate, but there are still risks. I wouldn't advise." He says in a powerful tone.

"Alright, well that's fine. I'm a pretty lazy person so this will work out fine. Is there an estimate to when I can return to normal activities?" I ask.

"So far, two to three months at least but seven to eight at most." He informs.

"Alright. When my father gets here, bring him in. I cannot get home fast enough." I tell him. He leaves. My stomach growls.

"You want me to get you something to eat?" Connor asks.

"There is a credit card and a phone in the back pocket of the shorts I was wearing when I went down." I smile at my idea. "Bring them to me." I ask and he gets up from the chair and grabs them.

"What are you gonna do? Send me out to pick something up?" He asks. I shake my head as I google the nearest Potbelly's and dial their phone number.

"They are going to deliver and when they get here, I need you to go and get the food, Okay?" I ask and he smiles. The line picks up and I order a meatball marinara with chips and an oreo milkshake. "What do you want?" I ask Connor. He shakes his head no but I give him a look.

"Get me a wreck with chips and a chocolate shake." He tells me as he rolls his eyes. He can't say no to me. I finish to order and pay with the credit card.

"Sit back down." I tell him.

"Actually, I've been in this room for a while, I gotta stretch my legs okay? I'll but be walking around the hospital for a little bit, okay?" He says. I nod.

"You better be back before the food get's here or I will get it myself." I threaten and he gives me a look like, _don't you dare or else. _I laugh. No sooner that he leaves does someone else come in the room.

"Hello, daughter." It's Diana. My mother. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine. Connor just left to stretch his legs." I tell her.

"As much as the liking of the company of men eludes me, I find it sweet that he is willing to stay with you. Protect you while you are in pain." She smiles.

"So you approve?" I raise an eyebrow jokingly.

"Yes. Connor is an admirable person. As is your father." She smiles. I accidentally laugh before wincing.

"So did they say when you get to go home?" She asks.

"No, they just said when my dad get's here, I'll be discharged into his custody so he can fly me to Gotham to be transferred to Gotham General." I sigh. She sits at the edge of my bed. I get edgy.

"That's a shame. It's no fun to have to go through recovery away from home." She tries to console me.

"I've been meaning to ask someone, what day is it and what have I missed?" I ask. Suddenly remembering how much I must have missed when I was abducted.

"Today is the seventh of July and so you have been out for three days. As soon as you went down, Dick and Superboy got you to a hospital while the rest of the team managed to subdue Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Joker and Shimmer. The rest escaped. After the mission, your father went to Arkham to interrogate the clowns since he can't take off in his jet to bring Ariella Wayne home without sudden suspicious. Plus, it would be unhealthy for you to use a zeta tube in your condition. The rest of the team has been waiting for word that you are awake, which I assume Connor is telling them right now." She tells me.

"Huh. Well I guess I didn't miss too much." I sigh. Thinking about the memories. They keep coming like a leak through a dam. Each one becoming less and less blurred together.

"What is it?" My mother asks. She must have noticed an expression on my face.

"Do you remember the christmas of 2011?" I ask her. She looks at me funny.

"Why do you ask?" She seems slightly worried.

"I don't remember it. Just curious." I lie. My phone buzzes and I answer. "Hello?" I say just as Connor walks into the room. It's the Potbelly's delivery guy.

"Food is here?" He asks. I nod and he goes to get it. I hear a little beep.

"Wonder Woman." Diana answers. It must be her Justice League communicator. "Sorry, I have to go. The league needs me." She stands up goes.

"Bye, mom." I wave. She walks out. Seconds later, Connor comes in with the food. As I am in the middle of my sandwich I realize he is smiling at me.

"How do you feel about more visitors besides me?" He asks.

"Um… sure?" I raise an eyebrow. He grins.

"You all can come in now." He raises his voice and the team begins to pile in. Dickie, Babs, and Tim leading the way. Everyone is here and it's making me nervous. Bu,t I decide to be funny and keep eating.

"Sup." I say with a mouthful of meatball and marinara.

"How are you feeling?" Babs asks.

"They cracked my chest, what do you think?" I snap at her. Everyone gets scared, but I smile. "I'm just kidding, the pain meds are working wonders." They all laughs.

"Surviving getting shot for the first time, like a superhero christening." Bart comment. People try to suppress a chuckle.

"What?" I ask him. I feel my face contorting in confusion.

"It's like a christening when a superhero is shot for the first time in the field." He tries to explain.

"This isn't the first time I've been shot." I look at him. Remembering being shot and left for dead. Dick and Tim look uneasy.

"When was the first time you've been shot?" Miss Martian asks.

"My first encounter with the Joker. One of his clowns got my bicep. Through and through, nothing major." I shrug. They all just look at me and understand that there is nothing to talk about. I keep eating.

"We're all just glad you are okay." Cassie says. But as soon as she says it, I notice the mental conversation going on between all of them, even Connor. I begin to get stressed out and nervous. Jaime notices.

"Dude, are you okay? You're turning invisible." He comments.

"I'm fine." I look down and finish my food. A nurse comes in.

"You can't all be in here. Have to be family or one at a time." She tells all of them. So everyone but Connor, Dick, and Tim leave.

"Is everything okay, Ari?" Dick asks.

"I said I was fine." I snap. They all look at eachother like they know something.

"Do you remember anything from after getting shot?" Tim asks.

"I remember going to the hospital." I tell them, looking down at my milkshake.

"Anything else?" Dick asks me.

"Nothing." I lie.

"Ari, I've known you long enough to know when you are lying." He comes close and tries to put his hand on my shoulder, but I involuntarily flinch when his hand comes near me. He steps away and calls who I assume to be my dad.

"Yeah, hi. You need to get the wheels moving on flying her back to Gotham." There is a pause meaning my dad is talking. Then Dick opens his mouth to say something that rings in my ears even more so than J'onn's. "She remembers."


	10. Chapter 10

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Washington D.C.**

**July 8, 2016**

I was half asleep when my dad showed up. I groggily changed into the pajamas my dad brought and curled up on a wheel chair with my IV bags attached with painkillers and sedatives. They wheeled me up to a limo and had me lay across a few seats as My dad, Dick and Tim sit together by the door of the car. Connor went to zeta to watchtower to go work with Superman. Once the limo finally stops, My dad carries me as Dick holds my IV bags up to keep flow. My father's jet is fully equipped with a bed and an IV hook for me. When I finally fall asleep, I can't stop think about how they are going to treat me when we get back.

****Gotham****

When I wake up, They are wheeling me up to Gotham General with paparazzi waiting for me. My dad presses a button and all of the cameras turn off, leaving the paparazzi in confusion. They wheel me up to my room where they hook me back up to monitors and let me sleep. When I wake up, my dad is napping in the chair next to me. I grab one of the pillows from behind me and throw it at my dad. He wakes up.

"How are you?" He asks me.

"I've been better." I tell him. He gets up and sits on the edge of my bed.

"Dick told me you remember." He reaches out to touch my cheek, I flinch but he does it anyway. The human contact is relaxing. Especially since it is my father.

"I've come to realize that I'm glad that you had me forget. It's bearable now, but I don't think I could have dealt with it initially." I admit.

"Do you want to forget again?" He asks.

"No. I'll be better for it. This is something I think I need to remember. If it becomes to much, I'll tell you and you can have me forget, okay?" I promise him.

"I'll trust you." He tells me. He leans down to kiss my forehead but my entire body cringes. I see the sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's been happening since I started remembering." I sigh. "Just ignore it, and it'll go away." I joke. We laugh but I have so stop because my stitches begin to hurt.

"The tabloids are having a hay day!" Dick says as he walks in with Tim.

"What are they saying?" I ask. _What now? _I think to myself. Tim sits on the end of my bed in criss cross to face me and be close.

"They are in a frenzy because you show up on a plane from Washington D.C. and being taken to Gotham General in a _wheelchair _on an _IV drip._ All the headlines are questions and social media has been suggesting party girl goes off the deep end, but everyone knows that Ariella Wayne doesn't party." Tim says. I give a humorous smirk to my dad and he suppressed a laugh.

"Any other suspicions?" I ask and he nods.

"Yeah. Someone at the protest saw you get shot and is posting about it but there is no legit proof. Another person thinks you have a heart defect or something cause they noticed the scar peeking out of your shirt." He says. I look down.

"The scar from the surgeon cracking my chest?" I ask. Tim nods and smiles. "Wow." I'm kinda shocked.

"Which one do we confirm? Do we say she was at the protest or go with the heart defect?" Dick asks.

"I'm thinking that we just don't confirm anything and it'll all blow over." My dad says.

"I agree. Besides, I don't want anymore attention than this is already getting." I frown. My stomach growls.

"And that's my cue." Dick smiles. "I know exactly what to bring you." He says as he walks out of the room.

"Please tell me he's getting pizza." I look at Tim.

"I am!" I hear Dick say from down the hall. My dad sighs.

"I swear, the two of you have to be legitimately related some how." He comments.

"I know." Tim grins. "It's uncanny." Doctors come in.

"We are just checking your vitals and stitches, making sure everything will heal properly with barely any scarring.

"Okay." I say as I give my dad and little brother a look. They take the cue and leave. I take off my shirt, leaving me awkwardly in my bra with the doctors. At least they are both female. They open my bandages.

"I don't see any signs of infection or imperfections in the stiches. Both the incision and the entry wound are healing nicely without any problem." The brunette says and the other slowly leans me forward to check my back.

"The exit wound is also fine. It is slightly irritated, so I suggest sitting up off the bed and If you do lay down, lay on your side." The blonde with the greying hair tells me.

"Vitals are slightly off but have been approving since the surgery." The brunette says as she documents the numbers on my monitors.

"Okay, thank you." I smile.

"No problem. We'll send your dad in." The blonde says and I put my shirt back on. Tim and my dad return. We all just sit and watch the news. After a while, Dick returns with my pizza and I start eating.

"You know, you guys can eat too. It's not like I don't want to share." I look at all of them.

"I personally am just waiting until you are done eating so I don't take any away from you." Tim says.

"Take the damn slice." I glare at him as I hold out a slice of the sausage pizza. He sheepishly takes it. "Everyone takes a slice or I get out of the bed." I threaten and they grab their own slice. I continue to eat as they all sit down and watch the news again. All of the sudden, the screen changes.

"Turn up the volume on the tv." I say and Tim pulls out the remote.

"We are coming to you with live footage of Metropolis where the Super Duo is battling a team of villains that we haven't seen together before. Cheetah, King Shark, Black Adam, Ivy, and we have just been notified of the Atomic Skull. They may be beginning to be too much for the Duo." Cat Grant speaks as the footage is played. Connor is has just knocked out Ivy and is going after Atomic Skull. Superman is getting his ass handed to him by King Shark and Black Adam. I hear a beep come from my dad.

"Justice League has been called in to help, but I have been given permission to stay here." My dad says. I nod.

"This just in, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman and Black Canary have arrived to the scene, aiding their fellow heroes." Cat Grant seems super cheerful now. I watch the Television and Captain Marvel helps super man with Black Adam while Canary uses her cry to incapacitate King Shark. I watch as Wonder Woman lassos Cheetah, taking her down and continuing to help Connor subdue Atomic Skull.

"Go Connor, taking out the big ones." Dick says.

"I have some things to discuss with Ari. Would the two of you excuse us?" My dad asks. They leave.

"What is it?" I ask. He gives me a look that could either spark excitement or fear.

"I think some of my scientist figures out how to… well basically we've found a way to activate Connor's exterior body clock, allowing him to age normally." He tells me and my eyes go wide.

"Like he could grow old? Look like twenty five years old when I do?" I ask. He nods. "That's unbelievable. Does he know?"

"He knows and he's willing to try it." He says. I bet I know why he's willing to do it.

"So when are you guys going to do it?" I ask, hoping for it to be soon.

"Next week. He needs to be off missions to Wayne tech can to daily check-ups for a month to make sure everything goes as planned." He informs. I smile and realize something.

"Can he hang out with me since he'll have to be in Gotham and I'll be stuck doing normal people things?" I ask. I may be with him anyway but I might as well as since He knows the two of us will have more time alone that usual.

"Yes. I'll allow it. Besides, I can't expect you to be alone with Alfred 24/7." He chuckles.

"And dad?" He looks at me.

"My legs feel dead. Can I please walk?" I make a puppy dog face.

"I'll ask a nurse." He walks out. I sigh and swing my legs off the bed and stand up without a problem. I don't need permission if I know that I am okay. I grab my IV pole and walk to the window when my dad walks in with a nurse.

"What are you doing? You didn't even wait!" He barks.

"I'm completely fine." I breath. "and you're gonna stress me out, which is against the doctor's wishes." My dad runs a and through his hair.

"I just want to say they it is okay to walk around. Just avoid the big windows and the lobby. Paparazzi are everywhere and they are the only ones that didn't sign a waver at this hospital." The nurse tells me. I look at my dad with a small laugh.

"You made _everyone_ sign confidentiality waivers?" I look at him. "Well that works. I was worried people were going to get weird." I let out a sigh of relief. It's also kinda amusing though.

"Yes well it is the best way to keep your medical details out of public view." He tells me.

"Cool, well I'm going to go walk around." I announce as I grab my phone and leave the room, pulling my IV with me. As I walk through the hospital, I notice how some patients look at me and react. Some are excited, some are curious, and some are just shocked to see me in the same ward as them.

"You're Ariella Wayne." A cute boy approaches me.

"That's me." I smile. He's a cute but funny looking kid. His tan skin rivals his blonde hair that looks so sunbleached that it looks like cotton with a golden tinge. "I've seen you before somewhere haven't I?" I have this familiar confusion.

"Yeah, New York City." He smiles. I remember.

"Jason, right?" I ask. He nods. "I bumped into you leaving a coffee shop when you and your friends were passing." I remember.

"Yeah, we were visiting the eldest two of our friend group who was graduating that week." He tells me.

"Yeah when I ran into you I thought your girlfriend was going to rip my head off." He laughs but I suppress mine.

"Piper's not like that. She's just intimidating sometimes." He assures me jokingly.

"Good to hear. So why are you in the hospital?" I ask him. He isn't wearing a patient gown.

"Piper's dad needed stitches from an incident at work." He explains.

"Well, I'll let you get back to her and her dad. See you around." I smile and he walks away. I continue walking through the hospital to get my exercise when I see Dick getting coffee. I walk up to him and he smiles.

"Up and around I see?" He looks at my IV.

"Yeah I was getting stir crazy." I answer.

"So, are you gonna go home today?" He asks me. Handing me his cup of coffee so I can have some.

"Depends on what the doctors say, but I hope so." I tell him, handing his coffee back. He gives me the first real hug I've had since I woke up in D.C.

"You'll be stitch free and back to normal in no time." He says with his chin atop my head.

"Thank you." I say into his chest. He pulls me off him so we are face to face.

"Wanna see the herd of paparazzi outside the hospital?" He get a crooked smile of mischief that nearly goes from ear to ear. I nod and we turn around to go downstairs when I see Tim with an empty wheel chair.

"Did dad ask you to follow me with that?" I get aggravated. Tim just looks down and wheels the chair away. Dick laughs as we get to the elevator. I drag my IV in and we go the the balcony on the fourth floor. He leads me to the best spot and I peek over the rail. The massive crowd is blocking the entire entrance.

"You know that could be a hazard if someone is hurt and needs to get into the hospital." It's all I can say. I'm shocked that I'm that popular.

"Downside of an it-girl being in the hospital. Others can't get their care." Dick says with utmost sarcasm.

"There she is!" someone yells from down there. I decide to smile and wave as a million flashes go off.

"Let's go." Dick leads me away and out of view. We go back inside and head down to the cafeteria to get some of the self serve frozen yogurt.

**Author's note:**

**Hi! Don't worry this story isn't going to go on hiatus, don't worry. But I would really like to announce that I posted a link on my profile to a google doc with my art of Ariella and what I think she would look like in real life, if you were curious. ALSO! If you were wondering, that definitely was a little cameo of the PJO gang. Couldn't help it! I had to! (but it might mean I might to a crossover for my next story!) **


	11. Chapter 11

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Wayne Manor**

**July 10, 2016**

The nightmare begins like this. I'm sitting in a dark room with no windows, bare of furniture but one metal chair. The door is bolted shut and the air vent is way too small to crawl through. The only thing I can do it sit in the cold metal chair and wait. It feels like an eternity before the door creeps in. As soon as I see Joker, I freeze in place. All of the sudden, I am tied to the chair, squirming to get free.

"Now, now. No need to be _afraid._" His voice smooth and nauseating. He comes extremely close with a knife. I look away, like it'll make him disappear. "No, sweetie I want you to look at me." He turns my face but I just go right back to looking away. He grips my jaw and forces me to make eye contact. "I said, _look at me!" _He shouts in a heart crushing tone. He hits me and I wake up, shooting up from my bed. I get my breathing and heart rate in check, then proceed to check the time. It's five in the morning and I managed to sleep a total of four hours. That the most I've slept at night in one go without waking up. But I'm still unbelievably tired, I can't help but slip unconscious again as soon as I lay back down. This time, the dream picks up where it left off, morphing into the memories from my childhood. Focusing on the Joker's knife. Lucky for me, I am woken up by my dad coming in to check on me. I sit up, noticing that I was hyperventilating.

"Another dream?" He asks as he sits next to me. I nod. "It'll get better."

"I still don't want to forget. But I need a way to cope." I tell him. I start to realize that my dad is thinking.

"I could take you to Arkham to face him." He offers but my entire body shutters.

"Not yet. I'll be ready when everything is all healed, okay?" I hug him and get out of bed. I straighten my pajamas and go to the door. "Now, I smell waffles." I smile and he follows me down stairs. When I get to the kitchen, I see Dick and Barbara jamming to music and making waffles.

"Syrup or butter and brown sugar?" Babs asks me as I sit down at the table.

"Syrup and don't hold back on chocolate and whipped cream." I tell her and I lay my head on the cold table. My dad sits down with a cup of coffee and begins reading the paper.

"Tired much?" Dick asks. I look up to see him setting my plate in front of me, next to a glass of chocolate milk.

"Yes. When you sleep like a rock, it's hard to wake up." I lie to him the best I can. He just goes with it and sits across from me, next to Babs. I start eating as the two of them aggravate each other over little things. I nearly drop my fork when it turns into Dick flirting. Barbara notices my discomfort.

"Dick, I have some work to do since the Apokolips mission. I'll see you later." She tells him just after she finishes her waffles.

"Well if you need any help." He tells her as she walks out. He sighs.

"You need to stop flirting, she is like your sister." I quietly snap at him.

"You're my sister and Barbara and I are close." He defends. I rell my eyes and he just laughs.

"Besides, I thought you like Zatanna? Nothing says romantic like old flames dies hard." I joke. He actually laughs.

"Well, in the great words of wisdom from Wally West, I am a dog." He speaks with a hint of sarcasm.

"You're not a dog, Dick. You're promiscuous." I burst out laughing. He laughs even harder.

"It's so true that it's sad." He laughs.

"Well, I think you should just take a break from your promiscuity. Figure out who holds your heart and direct all your romantic attention to them." I instruct. The facial expression on Dick's face seems minorly mind blown.

"When you become so smart about these kinds of thing?" He asks me.

"I'm a girl. It's in my genes." I give him a smile as I continue to eat my extremely chocolate waffles.

"I might just do it." He smiles and we continue to eat until my dad stands up.

"Well, I have to get ready and go to a board meeting and check the projects at Wayne Tech. I'll see you later." My dad kisses my forehead. "Bye, Dick. Ari, you have an appointment today." He reminds me as he walks out and Alfred appears.

"Good Morning, Miss. Good Morning Master Dick." He comes in and begins to clean up after Dick and Bab's mess from cooking.

"Good Morning Alfred. Do you know what time my appointment is?" I ask. I have to go to the hospital today for another post op check-up.

"I believe it is at ten, this morning." He informs me. I nod and put my empty dish in the sink.

"I will see you later, Dick. I gotta take a shower." I tell him. Just as I suggest a shower, Alfred hands me a roll of saran wrap. "Really?" I ask him.

"Master Bruce informed me that the doctors clearly stated that you couldn't get the stitches completely wet, in risk of infection. I suggest covering all stitches." He orders in a demanding voice.

"Fine." I grab the saran wrap and go upstairs to my room. I get in the bathroom and proceed to wrap the bandages over my stitches in order to keep them dry. I get in the shower and go as quickly as possible to avoid the saran wrap falling off. When I get out. I brush out my wet hair and decide I need a haircut. It's almost to the point where I could sit on it, even when I let it air dry and curl. I dry off and remove the saran wrap. I manage to get dressed and brush my teeth, emerging my room in a button down and a pair of shorts. I step into a pair of flip flops, and check my phone. It's 8:55 and I have no idea what to do with myself. Lucky for me, my phone begins to ring in my hand. It's my favorite person.

"Hey, so I have to go to Wayne Tech today for them to take one last sample of my DNA to test, that means I'll be in Gotham today." Connor says from the other end of the line.

"What time? Cause I have to go for post ops at ten." I tell him. Noticing the twinge of need and urgency in my voice, I calm myself.

"That's perfect because Wayne Tech gave me a window. I have to drop by between Eleven and Twelve." He responds. I can almost hear the smile on his face.

"Zeta to Batcave?" I ask him. Hoping that he'll be here soon to relieve my boredom.

"Be there in five." He says just before he hangs up. I put my phone in my back pocket and make my way to the secret entrance to the cave in my father's study. I wind the clock to 10:47 and go down. To my guestimation, it took me a minute to go from my room to the study and the elevator took two minutes. Therefore I most likely have about two minutes until Connor's arrival, unless he is slightly early or late. But his is just on time, by the time I get to the zeta tube, he is materializing. Before he can say anything, I kiss him. He pulls away.

"Well hello to you too." He laughs. I hold onto him as he brushes a stray curl from my face.

"What do you want to do until we have to go?" I ask. He just smiles.

"Why don't we just chill and watch TV or something?" He asks me. I nod and kiss him on the cheek. We walk to the elevator and go up to the house hand in hand. We just go the the living room and sit on the sofa. I turn on the TV and we watch something on Animal Planet. We would watch the news but it would just make me antsy. We are just sitting normally until he pulls me across him so he is lounging across the sofa with me across his lap with my head on his shoulder. It's nice because we just sit like that for a while. His rhythmic breathing lulling me into drowsiness. It's just perfect until Alfred walks in.

"Miss, I suggest you leave in ten minutes if you expect to be in time." He informs me. I sigh and look at connor.

"My dad said I can't drive because of stress, do you want to?" I ask him.

"Sure. Just don't put me in the most expensive car and we're good." He jokes. Alfred clears his voice.

"I suggest you buy condoms while you're out. Mistakes can be made." He says in all seriousness. Connor's face turns bright red.

"Don't you dare cross me, Alred. If you don't remember, I know what you like to read in your free time." I threaten without hesitation. It's been less than a month, there is no way Connor and I would… I'm not that kind of person.

"You wouldn't dare." He says with conviction. I just give him a look and he leaves us alone.

"Sorry for that, Alfred's sarcasm goes a little too far sometimes." I tell Connor before giving him a kiss.

"It's fine, just awkward." He smirks. "Let's get going." I get up off of him and we go down to the garage after I make sure that I have my wallet and phone. We get behind the wheel of my white audi r8 and drive into the city. The conversation in the car goes like this.

"So, what Alfred said…" Connor says as we round a corner.

"I guess this conversation was coming sooner or later." I sigh.

"So what do you think about it?" I can tell he feels awkward about this topic.

"I think we shouldn't plan it. Let it happen when the two of us are ready. When I am, I'll let you know, okay?" I look at him. He keeps his eyes on the road, but smiles.

"Okay." He says. I can tell that he is relieved to be done with this subject. We continue to drive around until we make it the parking garage of Gotham General. I pull the baseball cap out of the glove compartment and put it on. As soon as we get out of the car, I stay close to him in order to hide from prying eyes. But, as soon as we are ten feet away from the car, camera's start to flash and reporters swarm. All asking similar questions along the lines of why I have been going too and from the hospital. They block my way to the door and blows my fuse. I let go of Connor and to a 360o to all of the paparazzi.

"I know this is your job but this is my life. You are all stressing me out and right now, that can seriously damage my health. There's nothing to talk about if I'm not here so why don't you leave me alone for a while. If not, I will be pressing charges against all of you present as well as your bosses. If that doesn't stop anything, I will file for a restraining order as well as suing each and everyone of you. God knows I have the resources." I snap at all of them. There is a rising pain in my chest. "Now if you'll excuse me." I bark. They part like the red sea and I go into the hospital with Connor trailing at my heels. Once inside, I collapse. Connor catches me and picks me up bridal style, causing an explosion of flashes from the other side of the glass doors.

"That was not very smart." Connor tells me as he sits me down in a wheelchair brought over by a nurse.

"I know but they weren't going to stop." I speak heavily. I'm beginning to get tired.

"Then it's okay that you did it, but your dad is gonna see the media and might have a different opinion." He kisses my cheek, then proceed to wheel me behind the nurse so she can get us to a room. I sit on the bed as my usual doctors come in.

"We heard you managed to avoid stress until you arrived to the hospital. You should be fine, we'll just give you some pain meds to ease everything." The old one says as the brunette listens to my breathing and checks my pulse.

"Now, we need to check the stitches." The brunette steps back. I look at Connor and he steps out. I unbutton my shirt and let them remove the bandages.

"Well, there's no irritation this time. It's healing just fine, barely any scarring. But, due to today's incident, I suggest lot's of bedrest to ensure a full recovery." The brunette tells me.

"Is that it?" I ask. The old doctor shakes her head.

"We need to take a sample of your blood and do some bloodwork just to make sure you are healthy. We'll run it and when the results come back, you can go home." She tells me as I put my shirt back on. I nod and the brunette sticks me with a needle and draws my blood. They put it into a test tube and send it off with a nurse. I just sit back and exhale deeply. When the Two Doctor's leave, Connor comes back in.

"At least you're gonna be fine." He smiles as he kisses my cheek and sits down next to me on the bed. I turn on the TV and watch the news. I'm all over it.

"Yeah, but my Dad is going to flip when he sees this." I bury my head in my hand.

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Connor says in my ear before pulling me across his lap to hold me on the bed, Like we were on the sofa earlier this morning.

"Twice in one day." I smile at him before giving him a kiss.

"I like sitting like this, so i don't know what the problem is." He jokes. We begin a little make out session until it is abruptly interrupted by my dad on the news. I pull away and sit up straight to watch.

"Mr. Wayne, can you tell us anything about what happened to your daughter?" Cat Grant ask, waving a microphone in my father's face. He's out on the street in front of Wayne Enterprises.

"All I will say to you, as I've said to everyone else." He speaks through his teeth. I can tell that he is angry. "Leave her alone until she releases a statement saying that she is fully recovered. Maybe then we'll tell you what happened. But until said event occurs, stop hoarding her. The people that ambushed her at the hospital, could have cause serious strain internally. If it keeps happening, I will personally hold all of the reporters, newsmen, photographers, and cameramen responsible for the dramatic decline in my daughter's health." He presses his button and the camera shuts off, panning to the news room. The anchorman looks mortified.

"In other news-" The anchorman begins before I turn down the volume.

"Oh my god." I look at Connor. It's a short, awkward silence before we both burst out laughing. Eventually I have to stop from the pain in my chest but Connor keeps going. When we finally calm down, we turn the volume back on to see them doing skeptical profiles on my family. they've tried to interview everyone.

"I bet they'd crap their pants if they ever tried to interview your mother." Connor jokes.

"But they don't know who she is, so it doesn't matter." I shrug. I get an idea and pull out my phone.

"What are you doing?" Connor asks.

"Doing something fun." I all I tell him until I am finished and have three videos pulled up. "Remember when I used to tinker with my phone?" I ask him.

"Yeah, you would be at Mt. Justice with all the parts scattered across the table." He looks at me with curiosity.

"Well, I was upgrading it each time. now, it is at a point to where the function capacity exceeds that of a basic laptop. I hacked into the major media servers to get the attempted interviews of my family." I grin. We spend the next half hour laughing at my family. The funniest one was Alfred. He called the paparazzi uncultured swine that are incapable of understanding respect and boundaries. The best one was Dick's reaction. He gave them the most mischievous look and lept into a flip over the cameraman's head, pantsed him, and took the camera to get it on film. Tim just started yelling at them for not understanding that this is my personal business and that they shouldn't be snooping around or else he'll judo kick the camera. They said they didn't believe him to he did, and it was hilarious. When the nurse finally returns, she tells me I'm in the clear, so connor and I head to Wayne Tech so he can give them their last sample. After everything we end up at home, eating nachos and sitting with out feet in the pool. Connor looks to me.

"What?" I ask him. He just smiles.

"I'm just glad that you're gonna be okay." He takes me into an embrace and we just sit there for few minutes, with him just holding me.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Wayne Manor **

**July 19, 2016**

This time the nightmare is different. I'm waking up from surgery with the tube in my mouth, but this time, Connor isn't here and I am alone. I try to make as much noise as possible to attract someone to help me but the only person to come, is the Joker. He creeps out of the shadows and approaches me. I try to scream but the tube muffles my cries. He just comes close to me as strokes my face.

"Oh, it's no fun when I can't hear you scream." I makes a smiling pouty face and strokes my cheek. Before I know it he is ripping the tube out of my thought and climbs on top of me. Pinning my hands with his knees and grabbing my neck in a choke hold.

"Leave me alone! Please!" I scream and he laughs in my face.

"I like when you beg, but that won't save you." He chuckles and he releases my neck and pulls out his knife. "Soon you'll be pretty, just like me!" He laughs at me. Going for my face and putting the knife in my mouth. Just as he is about to cut, I wake up screaming and crying. My dad bursts through the door and comes to me, pulling me into his embrace and rocking me slightly.

"Shh. It's okay. You're fine. It wasn't real." He croons, stroking my hair as I cry. Clutching my chest as the pain returns.

"I… can't… hurts… it hurts… dad!" I get out between my hyperventilation. He give me one look and carries me out of my room and downstairs. I see alfred in his pajamas.

"Alfred, call the hospital, let them know I'm coming with her. Tell them she's having another incident." My dad tells him as he steps into a pair of shoes.

"Yes, sir." Alfred moves to the landline and begins to dial as my dad carries me to the garage. He loads me into a car, buckles me in and speeds off. I curl up into a ball, as if it might ease my pain. By the time we get to the hospital, my dad is running with me in his arms. The doctors are waiting with a gurnie. He puts me on and I just stay curled up in a little ball. I feel them move me to a bed in one of the E.R.s. They stretch me out so I am laying flat on my back. They hook me up to monitors and as soon as they do, I hear the beeping go crazy. I open my eyes just enough to see my dad through the window. I see the worry escaping his façade of all seriousness.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!" Someone yells as I begin to fade. Soon I feel a jolt and I come back. I hear the doctors.

"There has to be an internal bleed somewhere, there's no time to get her a CT. Prep her for surgery and take her to O.R. 2." The Doctor in the different color scrubs orders. I see my dad put his hand on the window as I see Dick run up to him with Tim. Saying something to my dad, suddenly stopping and seeing me through the window. They all stop moving and just look at me. I focus on my dad's hand on the window, focusing on that as I struggle to breath. I feel like I'm drowning until I begin to sputter and cough as the doctors roll me out of the E.R. I feel something wet on my face each time I cough. Sputtering a thick, warm substance. I remember my dad's hand on the window as they put me under. Once again, I am in the dark, alone with myself. But this time, I don't flash back to memories. all I can think about before my mind goes numb, is my family staring at me through the window.

**July 20, 2016**

I once again, there is a tube down my throat. It doesn't irritate me as much as it did the first time. They must have upped my dose of pain medication. I hear voices but I can't bring myself to open my eyes just yet.

"If you say she has PTSD then I can only conclude that the stress is what wore away at the stitches and the graft. There was internal bleeding in her chest from her heart and blood pooling in her lungs. We manages to re-graft all areas and drain the excess fluid." A male doctor says.

"Thank you." My dad sighs. I just barely open my eyes to see my dad on his phone in the corner and Dick and Tim sleeping in the two chairs to my left. There must be a lot of medication flowing through me because this feel completely different from last time. My eyes open completely and examine my room. It's a private one this time and a man in a suit with a wire in his ear is standing by the door. There is a golden, orange sunlight coming through the window so I can conclude that it is early in the morning. When my dad finally gets off the phone, he looks at me and comes over. He give one look to the guy by the door and he leaves, only to return with a nurse. This time i hold my breath as she pulse out the tube. When it's out, they put a cannula on my face so atleast this time, I'll still be given a steady flow of air without much affort.

"Dad." I rasp. He looks up from his phone and looks at me.

"Are you okay?" He asks me. I notice Dick and Tim both beginning to stir.

"Yeah, I feel kinda numb though, but that's kinda nice right now." I say quietly, my eyes slightly drooping.

"You tired?" He manages a slight chuckle.

"No, it's just kinda hard to keep my eyes open but it's getting easier." I give him a smile.

"The doctor said it was all the stress that slowly wore down on the grafts, causing them to rip. So they want to keep you on bed rest as well as a constant IV drip to keep you mildly sedated to avoid stress." My dad tells me. I sigh.

"For how long? I have school in a month and a half." I ask. I don't want to miss a single second of senior year.

"A month to ensure you heal enough to return to normal activities." He tells me. I sigh.

"Oh well. It's fine." I give him another smile and sit myself up slightly. I have a realization. "What day is it?" I look at him.

"It's Wednesday. I brought you to the hospital yesterday morning at about two in the morning." He tells me.

"Please do me a favor, call Connor." I ask. He just smiles.

"I talked to him yesterday and said I would call him when you woke up so if you would excuse me." He kisses my cheek and goes out into the hall. I just sit in silence since my brothers are still asleep. I take a moment to really look at them. I'm actually quite glad that seeing them watching me die wasn't the last time I was ever going to see them. Now that I see them, I can appreciate my brothers. Tim is adorable for his age, and he'll grow into his looks to be a handsome young man. When I look at Dick, he has the kind of face girls fall head over heels for, and they have. The two of them could give models a run for their money. They looks so peaceful, that I decide to fall asleep too. This time when I wake up, Connor is sitting in a chair to my right, watching me. I open my eyes and smile.

"Hi." I talk to him. He smiles.

"Hi." I realize he is holding my hand. I get a chill.

"Connor, do the thing." I almost slur as my eyelids droop. I just barely notice him look and my dad and my dad nods.

"What thing?" He asks me, trying not to laugh at my drowsiness.

"The thing from monday." I tell him, slightly agitated that he forgot.

"The thing from when we watched animal planet?" He asks. I nod. There is a pause before he lays on the bed next to me and pulls me across him so I can curl up on him, my head in the crook of his neck. I smile into his shoulder.

"You smell like Metropolis." I tell him. My dad laughs.

"What does that smell like?" Connor asks.

"Hot dogs and trees." I say, my voice muffled by his shirt. I hear my brothers laughing in the corner, but I honestly just don't want to look up. I just feel so comfortable on his warm body. His rhythmic breathing lulling me, his heart beat so simplistic. But, there is a rumble in my stomach.

"You want some food?" Connor asks, seeming to be the only person to have heard it. Probably the super hearing.

"Can I have a smoothy?" I look at my dad. He seems to think about it for a second.

"Your mother said she was on her way, I'll tell her to pick up one. Mango?" He looks at me. I smile wide a nod like an idiot, causing Tim to laugh a little. I see my dad go on his phone. I start to trace the contours of Connor's chest and abs. He suppressed a laugh but I feel the shutter of his chest.

"Dick." I look at my brother.

"What?" He answers, sounding almost worried.

"Connor is ticklish." I whisper like it's a secret. I trace again and Connor snickers a little. Dick almost snorts he laughs so hard.

"I think you should sleep for a little bit." Dick laughs. I frown.

"I think it's cute." Connor kisses the top of my head.

"That's fun, I'm cute." I say quietly as I snuggle myself on Connor's chest.

"I wanna tell her a joke and see how she reacts." Dick grins from ear to ear. I frown.

"Killing joke." I mutter to myself. Connor looks at me in concern, then looks at Dick.

"I don't think now is the time for that." Connor says in a serious tone. I smile and yawn. My eyes closing.

"Tell me when my mom get's here." I whisper as I drift asleep.

**July 30, 2016**

The rest of the team seems awkward and uneasy as Connor wheels me and my IV around Watchtower. It's been ten days since I was re-grafted and I haven't had any problems since. Connor and I have been having a nice time. He went to Wayne tech a few days ago. He will now be able to age along side my generation. So, we go about Watchtower, just hanging around until I get a cramp in my thigh.

"Connor, I need to walk." I tell him. He stops so I can stand up. I'm walking along side my wheelchair and try not to stray so as not to pull the IV. I feel awkward in my clothing. I'm just walking around in athletic shorts and a tank top. Everyone else is either in their uniform, or normal civvies.

"Hey, Ari!" I turn around to see M'gann. I begin to feel self conscious. "Glad to see you up and about. Hello, Connor." She is being genuine and I'm glad that there is no problems between us.

"Thanks, I have to get home soon though. Dad says I can't be out of the house for more than an hour." I look at the floor. She hugs me lightly.

"Well I can't wait until you're back on missions." She tells me. Her communicator beeps. "Gotta go, but I'll see you around." She smiles big and flies off. I sigh and walk with Connor to the zeta tube. But, he stops so naturally, I have to stop.

"What?" I ask him. He looks at me expectantly. "I am not sitting in the chair." My voice on the verge of whining.

"If your dad sees you walking around, he might get upset." Connor glares at me. I groan and flop down into the chair.

"Alright, I'm in the chair. Let's go." I sigh as we zeta to the Batcave.


	13. Chapter 13

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Wayne Manor**

**August 13, 2016**

Today is the day the doctor said I can go off the IV and start leaving leaving the house, but they still think I'm gonna have a PTSD relapse as damage my grafts. Honestly, I'm going to be fine. I may still have problems with the memories, but I've been prescribed sleeping pills to make sure I don't have to keep waking up all the time. But, that hasn't happened much since the incident. The IV has kept me calm and slightly tired all the time. By now, the stitches have dissolved, allowing me to not worry about bandages and things of that nature. It's actually pretty awesome considering today is the day my friends from school come over to hang out at the pool. I even managed to convince Connor to come.

"You almost ready?" He asks through the door of my bedroom. I tie the back on my swimsuit and make sure it'll stay tight. The black bikini hugging my body. It's weird being barely clothed. I haven't been like this in a while. I kinda missed getting to be in a swimsuit. My summer kinda was taken away from me thanks to a bullet.

"Yeah, be out in a second." I tell him as I grab my towel. I look in the mirror and sigh. I may feel confident about my body, the scars haven't faded yet and won't for a little while. Hopefully my friends won't ask too many questions. If they do, my dad told me to tell them that I had a heart defect and finally got it repaired. That way if the story is leaked, it's plausible since my dad hacked into the hospital mainframe as altered my medical history in case anyone went snooping. My friends most likely won't see the two scars from the bullet. They hide with my tan and I can just say I've had them forever.

"Ari, your friends are almost here, get out here." Connor says just as I open the door. He seems almost stunned.

"What?" I wrap my arms around his neck. "Haven't seen me in a swimsuit before?" I laugh.

"No, actually." He smiles and I kiss him. It's a whole new experience to kiss him, our bodies pressed together while both of us are in swimsuits. My skin touching his. But before it can go on any further, I pull away.

"Well, best if we get down stairs." I let go of him and go downstairs. The sun is going down and see people pulling into the circle. I go outside and greet them. They all look at my scar but no one decides to ask me about it. Soon, guys arrive and I finally see Babs, Zatanna, Dick, Wally, and Artemis. It's great to have them come since Connor doesn't know any of my friends. The only thing I'm worried about, is the love triangle. But Dick said he would follow my advice and so far, he isn't flirting with either of them, so there's that. I go to the back yard where the pool is, and I'm bombarded by my best friends.

"Ari!" May squeals and hugs me, eyes lingering to the scar but snaps back to focus. Leigh hugs me.

"Hey, guys." I hug them back.

"You have to tell us! What happened to you?" Leigh is looking at the scar. I can feel myself blushing with awkward embarrassment.

"It'll fade soon, but I actually had a heart defect and got it fixed." I tell them matter-a-factly.

"Oh, good, we were worried something bad had happened to you." May lets out a sigh of relief. Leigh has an odd expression on her face.

"What?" I ask her.

"Who are they?" She asks. I look over and realize she is staring at my friends from the Team. They are walking up to me.

"I met them outside of school a few years ago and decided to invite them, so Connor wouldn't feel awkward around my school friends." I tell them.

"Oh my god, who is Connor?" May get's excited. I feel him come up behind me and put his arm around me.

"Connor, this is May and Leigh." I smile. He does a little wave.

"Hi, I'm Connor." He greets them, they are gawking. I notice the rest of the group and showed up.

"May, Leigh, this is Zatanna, Wally, and Artemis. You know Barbara and my brother Dick." I introduce them. Artemis is hanging on Wally, trying to make it clear that he is her's.

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you." May is being super polite to make them feel welcome. She and Leigh walk away awkwardly. I laugh and take Connors hand.

"We should play chicken." Artemis grins. Wally gets a mischievous smile on his face.

"Only if the two supers don't use their powers." Barbara glared at Connor and I.

"I'd rather be referee. I'm not supposed to part take in extraneous activity for another few weeks." I tell her. She shrugs.

"In that case, Artemis and Wally, the bats, and then Connor and I." Zatanna says. I smile and they all jump into the pool. I climb up the mock life guard tower. Zatanna mounts Connor and they face off against Artemis on Wally.

"Last one standing wins!" I tell them as people around us start to cheer. It's like fight club, but you're not supposed to talk about that. "Three! Two! One! Go!" I yell and Artemis starts to have the upper hand with Zatanna. But, in an odd turn of events, Zatanna leans forward and gains ground on Artemis. but, Artemis makes a comeback and pulls sideways, getting Zatanna by surprise, causing her to smack into the water.

"Artemis versus Barbara. Things are about to get interesting." I say and Connor laughs. Green Arrow's protege versus Batman's. I have a feeling I know who is going to win. They square off and start. Artemis fights dirty, but Babs is cunning and trained against the Bat himself.

"Ready to finally lose to me Babs?" Artemis grins cockily.

"As if Arty." Barbara laughs. She just shifts her weight and Artemis goes down. People cheer and I climb off the lifeguard tower and dive in after Connor. I emerge right next to him and kiss him.

"That was fun but I would rather do this." I tell him as I kiss him passionately and deeply right there in the pool, with everyone watching. There are some _ooooh_s from the guys at the party, but I put my hand in their direction and flip them off. There is laughter around us. I pull away from Connor.

"That was nice but I think we should tone it down until later." He says in my ear. His voice making me shutter.

"Then if you'll excuse me, I have some music to put on." I give him a peck on the cheek and get out of the pool. I dry off my hands and get my ipod to plug into the speakers by the bar. A few scroll and I find the perfect song to get things going. People start to dance and party in and around the pool. Now the party can really start. I walk over the the slide in the rock mount and turn on the water to it. Now that everything is set, I just tell alfred to send out the boxes upon boxes of pizzas to the bar out here. Once everything is completely set, I return to Connor.

"Impressive party, I must say. Not even Dick managed to have parties like this no matter how hard he tried." Connor compliments me. Hands around my waist, I swing my arms around his neck.

"Thanks, I try." I shrug with a half smile. Leigh swims up to me.

"Ariella Wayne, this party is the greatest way to start our senior year! Less than a month until the first day of school is just enough time for the rest of our group to throw more bashes to get the year going!" She squeals in excitement. I grin.

"Well just call me and I'll be there, unless the activities are in the no-no zone for me." I frown and she just laughs.

"I'll personally make sure all of them are chill but still fun. No worries." She promises. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have the go talk to Nate Brammer." She smirks and swims off. I laugh and look at Connor, his fathomless eyes meeting mine.

"I'm a teenager, you're a teenager." I put my hands on his shoulders. "Let's go do teenager things." I kiss him and lead him out of the pool. He laughs and we join the crowd dancing beneath the lanterns. Artemis, Wally, Zatanna, Babs, and Dick find us and we all start dancing together. Laughing at and joking with each other. We all mosh together for fun. Eventually, I just dance with Connor, doing things to make him laugh. I bounce around and move to the beat of the music. We go for a few songs until I get a little tired.

"Something wrong?" Connor asks, holding my face in his hands.

"I'm fine, I'm just going to get some pizza, maybe a drink. Do you want something?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "Have some fun, I'll be back." With that, I walk away to go and find a good slice of pizza. As I'm standing with a slice of hawaiian pizza in my hand, I am spectating my party. I'm quite pleased that everyone is having a good time. I know I am. A guy from my gym class approaches me. John Randolf.

"Nice party." He tells me as ha grabs his own slice of pizza.

"Thanks. Glad everyone's enjoying it." I smile trying to be polite. He steps a little too close for comfort. I take a little step back.

"I saw you kissing that nobody in the pool." He gets so close to me that I can feel his hot breath, smell the alcohol in his breath. Anger boils inside of me, but I try not to act on it. I could seriously injure this poor boy.

"Yeah, and?" I look up, getting face to face with him.

"How about sharing some of that." He tries to kiss me, but my instincts kick in and I grab his jaw, gripping him just tight enough to hold him without breaking it.

"How about I don't share, because that nobody is a somebody that happens to be my boyfriend. Make a move on me again and he will come after you if I don't snap you like a toothpick first." I growl in his face.

"Hey! Calm down." Connor says as he runs up to us. Downside of super hearing.

"Skeeze ball over her tried to kiss me. I'm not letting go until he gets my message and understands it loud and clear." I hiss. Connor steps back and puts his hands up in surrender.

"What makes you think you can hurt me?" Randolf says with a hint of drunken slur. I grip his jaw a little tighter. He winces.

"Just remember my extra curriculars. Daddy wanted his little girl to be able to handle herself in the big city of Gotham. Don't think I won't break… well… _you_." I snap at him. "You're gonna leave the party. I don't wanna see you on my property again." I let go of his jaw and he walks away.

"That was intense, you okay?" He asks. I nod.

"I'm fine. Let's just get back to the party." I tell him and he just nods and leads me back to the crowd of people dancing. In the midst of it all, I jump on Connor and kiss him deeply. He holds me up by my thighs and my legs cross at his back. This is unlike anything I've ever experienced with him. The extraordinary feeling overrides everything, my senses, my thoughts. It's like one thing just silenced my fears and explode with emotion in the pit of my chest. I like it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Gotham**

**August 29, 2016**

Connor and I are at staples, shopping for my school supplies for this year. I keep trying to distract him with all kinds of activities, avoiding the tension between us from the party. It's getting harder to resist as time goes by. We go through the aisles, checking my supply list and grabbing the things I need in choice colors. When we get to the binders, I start looking for the right sizes for the requirements of each class.

"So I was thinking we could go get some food together after this." Connor looks at me. I can tell he is sorta bored.

"Sure, I can't reach the two inch binders, can you grab one for me?" I ask him and he does. When he reaches up, his shirt moves to reveal a bit of his abs and part of his v. The tightness of his shirt accentuates each of his rippling muscles. I bite my lip.

"Here." He hands me a blue binder, knowing it was the only color I hadn't grabbed. I look at his lips and I can't take it anymore. I throw the binder into the cart and press myself into Connor. Right there in the middle of the aisle. His hands run over my torso.

"Lemme make sure I have everything, then we can go back to the house." I murmur into his lips. He let's go and I look into the cart. The only thing missing is filler paper so we grab some, checkout, and leave. I throw the things into the car and we speed home, shattering the speed limit nearly the whole way. We burst through the door of the house with me all over him. I hop up and he holds me up by my thighs. My hands grip the hair on the back of his head like I need to hold on for dear life. We pass Tim's room, he comes out.

"I'm telling Bruce." He glares at me. I pull my face away from Connor.

"Three hundred bucks in cash and I'll cover for you the next time you want Cassie to spend the night." I tell him, he nods and goes back into his room. We go all the way down to the end of the hall and burst through the door of my room. Connor locks to door and drops me on the bed. He's been on my bed before but not like this. He climbs on top of me and starts making out with me, but I wrap my legs around him and flip us. I pull his shirt off of him and start kissing his neck. His hands travel up my shirt. I take it off, leaving me in my bra and shorts. He's still in just his shorts. His hands move to my shorts and pulling on them. I slide them off and now it's just me in a bra and underwear. I pull Connor's shorts off and throw them off the bed. He flips us back over so he is one top. He kisses my stomach and works his way up to my neck, pausing on the scar on my chest. I run my hands down his abs and notice Connor tracing swirls and circles on my upper left thigh, causing my body to shudder in pleasure. He pulls back to look at me.

"This goes against doctor's orders." He tells me, breathing heavily.

"I know." I flip us and stark kissing his neck.

"Are we doing this?" He asks. I sigh. I want to say yes but I don't think I'm ready. But, Connor is and I want to make him happy.

"Your choice." I look at him. His fathomless eyes boring into mine.

"You're not ready are you?" He looks at me with disappointment.

"Don't look at me like that." I frown. He sighs and rolls off me. "I know you're mad." He nearly laughs.

"I'm not mad because you won't, I'm just disappointed that you wanted to give me the choice even though you aren't ready." He kisses my nose.

"I just didn't want to upset you if you didn't get to." I tell him.

"It's fine, I don't want to force you into anything your not ready for." He promises me. I give him a kiss and roll into him. He puts his arms around me and holds me.

"I love you." I whisper as I turn around so my head is against his bare chest.

"I love you, too." He holds me tighter and we just lay there. I pull back a little and trace the lines and curves of his muscles. We lay like this for what feels like hours until the doorknob is tried, I shoot up.

"Ari?" My dad asks on the other side. Connor grabs all his clothes and I start getting re-dressed as fast as possible. "I got done with work early and wanted to see you." He says.

"Yeah, sure, just a second!" I call to him as I put my hair in a ponytail. I point to the window and Connor goes to climb out.

"See you later." I kiss him and run to my bedroom door as he makes his escape. I open the door to my dad, but he just looks at me.

"What did you do?" He asks me, having notice something.

"Why do you ask?" I look at him nonchalantly.

"Your hair is more disheveled than usual and your shirt is on inside out." My dad says as he crosses his arms. I look down to see the seams of my shirt.

"Huh. I've been walking around like this all day and no one told me?" I make a bummed face.

"Are you okay?" My dad asks as he puts a hand on my head like he's trying to feel for a fever.

"Fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put my shirt on the right way." I go into my bathroom and flip my shirt. When I come back, he still has that look on his face like he thinks something's up. "What?" I ask him.

"You never answered my question." He looks at me with this dead expression.

"Dad, I didn't do anything." I tell him simply and try to walk past him, but he lightly grabs my forearm.

"Then why was your door locked?" He asks. "You never lock your door unless you have something to hide." He says to me in all seriousness.

"Well, we all have our secrets, don't we?" I glare at him. He lets me go and I walk downstairs. Half way down the stairs, my own words ring in my head. I stop dead in my tracks.

"Ari?" My dad asks.

"_We all have our secrets, don't we?" _The words repeat but in a voice I didn't want to hear. I feel myself shutting down so I sit down, right there in the middle of the staircase. I feel someone touch my arm. I look to see my dad talking to me but I can't hear him. Everything fades to black.

_**Flashback **_

I feel like I'm getting smaller, fear growing inside of me. I feel a cold floor beneath me. A door creaks open and someone comes into what had become a room. I'm curled up in the corner, shaking as he approaches me.

"Now, now. You need to let go of that fear if you're going to live happily. Time out is over, Harley brought home some dinner." He puts out a hand but I don't take it. "I know you're hungry. If you want to eat, you will take my hand and come with me." He implores.

"Yes, mr. Jay." I nod slowly, taking his hand. _I don't remember this_. I think to myself. _How long was a really gone when I was taken? _I realize. Joker leads me out of the dark room to a brightly painted hallway. Yellow like sunshine, but a few bloodstains that look like someone tried to wash them away.

"I remember you telling me you liked cheeseburgers and fries." He croons. For some reason, I'm not trying to run.

"Is that what you had Mrs. Quinn bring me?" I ask in all politeness. This so strange.

"Yes, and I got it just how you like it." He says as he leads me into a kitchen. The plate is so appetizing. "American cheese on a medium rare patty with a toasted bun. Ketchup is on the side with the fries." He tells me, but before I can sit down, he grabs my arm.

"What?" I ask him. My mouth watering from the smell of the food.

"I only ask one little thing, darling. Go diamond and break this batarang." He holds the metal bat out to me.

"Yes, sir." I smile at the easy task. It's like my mind cringes as I remember this. I obeyed him. Little me takes the batarang into my hands, goes diamond, and snap the batarang. But I don't stop. I keep going until the things is shredded and crushed. Joker laughing is approval.

"Sit down, champ. You've earned it." He takes the pieces of the batarang and lets me go eat. As soon as sit down, Harley sets down a milkshake.

"Was hiding the bonus until you completed the task." She smiles. I take a sip and notice it is a cookie dough milkshake.

"Thank you, Mrs. Quinn." I smile politely and get eating.

"You enjoying it?" Joker ask as I keep eating.

"Yeah. I have a question, what are you training me for anyway? Will it be fun?" I ask. Hoping they don't mind. I keep eating.

"You're going to help us with a few loose ends." He tells me with a smile. I notice Harley humming to herself as she eats a candy bar.

"Is it a secret who they are?" I ask. They both look at me with sickly sweet smiles.

"_We all have our secrets, don't we_?" Harley says. "Eat up, I have some clothes for you to try on after." She smiles. I finish my dinner, happy as can be. When I finish, Harley leads me upstairs to my room. The walls covered in light purles and blues, the bed with a canopy. _They treated me like a princess_. I think to myself. Something is shifting in my head.

"What do you want me to try on?" Younger me asks. Almost bouncing in place. Harley pulls out something of silver and black. I take it and put it on. When I look in the mirror, I realize I'm dressed a lot like Harley. It's a child version of her outfit, but mine is silver and black.

"Now, just sit still and let me do your hair." She implores. I plop down on the floor and let her go. She brushes through my curls and pulls them into a high ponytail. Pulling silver, black, and white curly ribbons through the hair tie so they dangle with my curls. She hands me a pair of boots and I pull them on.

"Anything else?" I ask. She just smiles and puts a little domino mask on me and puts bright red lipstick on my lips. I smile for her.

"Perfect! Now, let's go show Mista Jay." She grins and takes my hands. I follow her and we go downstairs.

"There's my little shiner." Joker claps his hands together.

"Do you like it Mr. Jay?" I give him a little twirl.

"You look perfect. Would you like to go out into the field? I have a job in an hour if you would like to come tonight." He tells me. I nod excitedly. "Time to put on a show." He grins. I take his hand and the two lead me to the car where we race through Gotham to an alley. Men in suits approach us. The one in the middle has a suitcase.

"Joker, they didn't tell me you were the one making the deal." The man says.

"I was the one that made the call. There was no _they_ in the first place." Joker shouts to them. He puts a hand on my back. "This is my new protege. She will do the handling as part of her training." He says to them, then bends down to whisper in my ear. "This is my _final_ transaction with them. It's time to _end _it." He speaks with an underlying order. I nod.

"The kid is gonna come to us. She doesn't, then no deal." The man in the middle declares. I go forth with a dead expression. He hands me the suitcase, but I just set it lightly on the ground next to me.

"Illegal dealings, I'm guessing there are guns in your coats. Maybe a few knives?" I look at them. I just grin from ear to ear and turn diamond. One punch to the jugular and the head honcho is out. The rest begin the shoot at me with fearful looks on their faces. I just start wailing on them, breaking bones and taking them out. The last one is having trouble dying, but I manage to end brain function with repeated blows to the skull. His last breath escapes his lips and I look at Joker and Harley with a large smile on my face. Feeling the blood all over me from the kills.

"She's perfect." Joker looks at me in an odd awe. I stand up and return to the clowns and they are just excited. As we walk to the car, someone shoots me with their last breath and I collapse. In a panic, Joker and Harley put me in the car and rush me home. They lay me on the floor of my bedroom.

"Go downstairs and get the medical kit, I'll get the stuff I keep for numbing." Harley tells Joker. they leave the room and after about a minute, the window shatters and the Batman sweeps in and whisks me away kicking and screaming.

_**End of flashback**_

The next thing I know, I'm snapping back to the real world. I realize that I'm sitting in a chair and across from me is my father, who is watching me intently. I feel my eyebrows knit in comfusion.

"Wait, are you aware now?" He asks me. I suddenly feel angry, but I hide it.

"Flashback, I'm fine." It's not a total lie so it's easy to slip it past him.

"What was the trigger?" He asks. I feel that he's worried. I need to leave.

"Something I said." I tell him. "I was going to see Connor, can I go now?" I ask him but he just seems flustered.

"No, you just glazed over and went unresponsive." His voice shakes slightly.

"He makes me feel better, please." I tell him just so I can get out of this house. He sighs and I get up flying through the house to get my phone, all my hidden cash that I always stock piled in my closet for some reason, grab my wallet, and stuff it all into a purse. I fly down the the Batcave and zeta to Watch tower. I find Connor training the freshmen.

"Ari, what are you doing here?" He asks. I grab his arm and start pulling him away.

"Screw doctor's order, Connor. Screw them." I tell him forcefully.

"Okay then." He laughs. "We're doing this?"

"We're doing this." I pull him into the one room I know for a fact doesn't have any cameras, the supply closet.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Arkham Asylum, Gotham**

**August 19, 2016**

Perks of invisibility and intangibility, I can sneak into any facility no matter how secure. I've just snuck into Joker's cell. I find the camera and wait for Joker to sit down, then put it on a continuous loop. Once that is done, I become visible.

"Ariella, come to hurt me?" He chuckles to himself. There is one last click in the back of my mind and I feel completely changed, seemingly for the better.

"No." I smile. "I remember, Mr. Jay." He claps his hands together in slight celebration.

"Everything?" He questions lightly, almost wary of my presence.

"Everything. I'm thinking it's high time we break you out and have some real fun." I give him a look and he grins in such a way that I begin to get excited.

"I agree, but we can't leave my dear Harley. Let's get her and get out." He orders. I nod and grab his hand, extending my abilities to hide him and pull him through the wall of his cell. We go through cell after cell, passing patient after patient until we get to Harley.

"Hello again, Darlings." She greets us with excitement.

"Time to get you out." I grab her hand and extend to her too. The funny thing is, I'm not even getting tired. I get them out just before the alarm goes off.

"Got a place to go?" I ask them, Joker nods.

"Get us to my warehouse. I have a boom tube courtesy of the Light. It'll get us to someone we can confide in to start up the old plan again." Joker orders. I nod and find a car. I focus and generate a tiny field inside the door to unlock the car without setting of an alarm. Once inside, I use another small field to turn the ignition and get everything going. Harley and Joker climb into the car and I step on the gas. We speed through the city with Joker giving me directions. Once at the warehouse, Joker rummages through his stuff to find the boom tube.

"So, why was I frozen in fear when I saw the two of you in D.C.?" I ask Harley. She looks at me and I can almost see the the gears of thought turning behind her eyes.

"From a psychiatrist's standpoint, I don't think you were frozen in fear. Honey, I think your mind became conflicted from what you are to what your current state of mind had known to be true. You had a bad case of split personalities, Darlin." She informs me. I nod in understanding.

"So I was just so conflicted that I couldn't understand it myself. Oh, and why shoot me?" I ask with slight agitation.

"Deadshot was aiming at your brother, but the Martian tried to interfere, using her telepathy which caused him to miss. He does apologize, he doesn't like shooting the younger generation." She tells me.

"It's alright, if it was intentional, I would have had to break his neck." I grumble. We hear a loud _WHOOP_ and see joker holding the father box. The two of them change out of their prison orange and gather next to me.

"Father box, take us to Lex Luthor." He says. The box beeps and we fall through the floor and land in a giant office. I spot the bald billionaire sitting by his desk.

"Joker, why have you brought Nightshade?" He looks at me in interest.

"She's back, Luthor. She's ready, too. With the Bat's training and her mentality, she's perfect." Joker tells him with a pleased tone. Luthor sits back in his chair with a smirk.

"She's going to need something special to make her debut for the Light." He tells us. I smile.

"What did you have in mind?" I ask with excitement.

"Now that you mention it, I've been developing something specifically for you for when you came back to us. Come with me." He stands up, walking out of the office. We follow him into the elevator and down a few floors. When we emerge, it is a science division. He stops at a tube encasing a mannequin with an outfit that I find most intriguing.

"Now this, I like." I marvel at the leotard styled clothing. The silver shoulderpads and knuckle guards are enticing to me. The slit hips and arms make it fun. Even the intricate black and silver boots are enjoyable yet functional.

"It is completely indestructible, so it won't be damaged as you do your job. You have complete control over your field generation, correct?" He asks.

"Yeah, why?" I ask him. He has something that needs one of my abilities.

"Just put on the outfit and I'll explain the features." He laughs. They leave me to change. I put my civvies in my bag and look at myself in the reflection of the mirror. I leave my curly mess of hair down to cover one eye. Luthor and the clowns return to see me.

"I really like this. Breathes and moves just fine." I compliment Luthor.

"Now, the features." Luthor begins. "The obvious is that it is indestructible. Now, if you create a field while wearing this, you could focus creating one inside the palms of the gloves. The suit will direct the energy and fire. It will turn your energy fields into energy balls that you can fire upon targets. Come." He orders I follow him into a mock shooting range. "Try it." He orders. I focus the field into the palm of my hand and aim. The blast turned the target into a pile of rubble.

"Cool." I clench my fists together.

"Our baby's gonna be a powerhouse of the Light." Harley croons.

"Oh, this is too good, Luthor." Joker tells him. The billionaire grins.

"None of this would have been possible without you." Luthor thanks him.

"Well, then. What do we do now that I'm all powered up?" I ask. Luthor and Joker look at each other.

"Time to convene with the leading members of the Light, inform them of the revelations that occurred today. Luthor leads us to a room with multiple monitors. After a few minutes of extreme patience on my part, the screens lights up to reveal the faces of the other Light members.

"Luthor, why have you called this meeting?" Vandal Savage speaks first.

"The girl has been primed. After years of waiting, it's time for her to step into the Light." Lex informs them.

"The Joker has delivered her as we have requested in the first place?" Ra's al Ghul asks. Luthor looks at me. Something clicks in my mind, I go down on one knee and bow my head. The words just roll out of my mouth. I remember Joker teaching me this a long time ago.

"I am ready to serve the Light each way you see fit." I pledge. The words feel oddly right as they come out of my mouth.

"Take her to the partner's planet he will be pleased to meet the new and improved girl. He may also take the liberty of improving her even more. The furies as well as Granny Goodness would be pleased to train one so young." Vandal orders.

"Agreed. I'll escort her myself as soon as the meeting is finished." Luthor promises.

"Be sure no one outside this group knows where she is going. The league may try to take her back." Queen Bee order's with slight aggravation in her voice. I stand up.

"It is no longer the League's place to _have_ me. I've been given the chance to show others the light. I will not be walking away from that." I tell them. Klarion lets out a little laugh.

"I like her, make sure we keep her." He tells the others.

"All agreed zat zee meeting is adjourned?" The brain asks the rest of them. They all agree.

"Luthor, make sure she gets to Apokolips. I will inform the partner of her arrival, pack her a bag, then get her off world immediately before her absence is noticed." Vandal Says before the screens shut off. Luthor looks at me.

"Take to boom tube directly to your bedroom. Lock the door and pack your things. We're getting you out of there and giving you a new life. As soon as you're done, get right back here. Make sure no one in your house sees you." He hands me the father box.

"I understand. No one will know." I take the little box. "Father box, take me to my room in the Wayne Manor, Gotham City." I tell it and I fall through the floor, landing on the white fluffy carpet of my room. I run and lock the door before anyone can come. I pull out my big duffel bag from under my bed and start stuffing it full of clothes. I manage to get every last thing in that isn't formal wear. I even got shoes in. I go to the bathroom and throw everything into the sides of the duffel. I stuff my laptop, chargers, and holo computer into the top of the bag. I grab my domino mask and dress and pack that too. Might come in handy. I sling the giant bag over my shoulder and look at the near empty closet and disheveled room. I hear someone coming.

"Ari? You home?" Someone asks. It's Dick walking towards my room. I rush and pull out the box.

"Father box, take me back to Lex Luthor." I whisper. The floor opens and I land back in his office. "I've got everything." I tell him.

"Good. One last thing." He pulls out a needle and an empty blood bag.

"What's that for?" I ask. He grabs my arm and sticks me.

"I need a large enough sample to clone your blood in order to make a quantifiable amount. I'm going to make it look like you're dead with a single lead to how or why." He tells me as the bag fills up.

"Perfect, they won't come looking for me." I tell him as the bag becomes full and he pulls the needle out of my arm. I get an epiphany.

"I have something that will make it more believable." I go into my bag and pull out my Nightshade dress. Luthor smiles.

"This is perfect, a few rips here and there and leave it at the crime scene, it'll be perfect." He smiles as he put the dress into a chilled safe with the blood bag.

"We have to go, now. Apparently your father's car has been spotted speeding home." Lex tells me as he looks at his phone. I nod.

"Father box, take us to Darkseid." I tell it. The floor opens beneath us and we land in a familiar place, the throne room where I first met Darkseid.

"Luthor, I've been expecting you and the child." He says from the throne.

"Yes. I hope you have prepared for her, it would not be appreciated if she is not properly kept. She is key to the Light's cause." Luthor tells the stone man. Darkseid laughs slightly.

"She will be well kept and trained by the furies. She will become the perfect warrior. Maybe even the perfect being." Darkseid states. "Welcome to Apokolips, child. I hope you will enjoy your stay." He says in an unbelievable tone, but he wouldn't dare cross his business partners. Especially not when they posses the War World as well as some of the most powerful beings of our galaxy.

"I am honored to be your guest." I bow slightly as he snaps his fingers. An old woman walk in. She looks slightly like a man but hey, I'm a guest on her planet so it's best to be polite.

"Granny Goodness, take her to her living quarters. In an hour I would like you to take her to the Furies, begin training." He orders. Granny opens her arms and I approach her.

"Come now, child. Let's get you taken care of." She smiles as she leads me away. We maneuver to the fortress until she stops at a door. I open it and it reveals something resembling american gothic interior decorating. I open the gray curtains to see the red sky and orange clouds. The place fits the description of hell. Burning skies and the ground seething with violence and death. But yet again, hell isn't such a bad place to party.

**Author's note:**

**the picture of the new suit is posted to the link in my bio**


	16. Chapter 16

**Connor Kent's pov**

**Watchtower**

**August 26, 2016**

Batman has called everyone from the League as well as the Team. I watch as everyone arrives. The only person I don't see is Ariella. I haven't seen her since the supply closet. The last person the enter the room is Dick, his face sullen. The room is filled with whispers about what is going on. But everything falls silent when Batman pulls up the holo computer. The photos and intel are of Nightshade.

"A week ago from today, your teammate, Nightshade, was recorded using a zeta teleporter tube to Gotham city. The last sighting of her, was on a traffic cam. She was recorded in a car with the Joker and Harley Quinn who have appeared to have escaped from Arkham Asylum with her help." Batman begins. There are a few gasps from the large group of heroes. "We must find her and bring her back to the League at all costs." He orders. I feel my stomach fall.

"How do we find her if she is out of uniform?" Bart asks among his silent teammates.

"I wouldn't disclose her identity unless we were to the point of absolute desperation. I have been searching non stop for her, we are to that point." I detect the falter in his voice that other's may not notice. I may be half kryptonian but my knees begin to grow weak. He pulls up a photo and intel that shocks everyone but a select few. "Nightshade's real name is Ariella Hippolyta Wayne. I'm sure you all know what she looks like, so if you see her in your cities, report to me. Do not engage." He orders.

"Why not engage?" Garfield asks. M'gann elbows him. This time, Martian Manhunter answers.

"When she was eleven, Ariella was abducted by Harley Quinn and the Joker. They tortured her to a point of reconditioning. Her mind was re-molded to have the need to please them. She was repurposed to kill whom she was told. In the span that she was in this state, she killed 38 people from all over Gotham. After ten months of her confinement, she was shot by one and only failed kill. A traffic camera recorded the Joker taking her back to their hideout to help her. When they left her alone, Batman broke in and retrieved her. When she awoke in the hospital, she had a mental break down so I was asked to enter her mind and suppress the memories." Martian Manhunter informs.

"In light of recent events, she has begun regaining these memories. How much she remembers, we do not know. Now that she is fully trained, she may be to deadly for the team. If spotted, inform me, then wait for assistance from the rest of the team, and only engage when two members of the league have arrived." Wonder Woman orders. Her voice noticeably strained. I can't imagine what she is feeling, her daughter disappearing under these circumstances.

"Now, the Bats will continue their investigation. If anyone retrieves any information, give it to one of us." Batman orders. "Now get down to Earth and start looking." Batman barks. Everyone scatters at his command. I approach him.

"You really have no idea what to do, do you?" I ask. He looks at me with anguish.

"She can turn invisible and walk through walls. This will be the hardest investigation of my entire career as Batman." He seems off. Like he is sleep deprived. His exhaustion near extreme.

"If there is anything you need, extra eyes, the manpower, anything. I'm here." I tell him. He nods.

"Come with me. There is one place I haven't looked, it seemed illogical. But, now illogical seems like our best bet." He goes to the zeta tube. When we emerge, we are in Gotham. I follow him to an abandoned house. There is an awful stench coming from inside.

"Batman, I smell decay." I look at him. He ignores me and kicks down the door. Inside, the house looks like it's painted for a five year old. We case the entire place. There is dried blood on the walls that has decayed seven years.

"What are we looking for?" I ask. He is checking the kitchen.

"Check for signs that someone has been here in the past few months." He tells me. I head upstairs. One of the rooms I check is a dusty child's room. The faded walls and dusty canopy bed barely distract from the sizable blood stain on the center of the floor. I cringe and go downstairs. The last room to check beckons to me. I approach it, expecting it to be empty and abandoned like the rest of the room. But I notice that the stench is wafting from the direction of the last room. I look at the floor of the hallway and notice the fresh blood on the floor. Hand prints and streaks of blood like someone was bleeding out as they were dragged back into the last room.

"Batman." I say just loud enough for him to hear me. I continue, avoiding stepping in the blood so I don't compromise the scene. I get to the door and open it carefully. The inside is mortifying. I hear Batman come in behind me.

"Oh, god." He croaks. There is blood all over the room. Hand prints, drag marks, splattering on the walls, and a giant pool of blood. This amount of blood loss would mean that whose ever's it is, they are dead.

"It can't be her's. She is probably hiding somewhere." I try to rationalize. But Batman picks something up out of the corner. He takes a good long look at it and drops it. The man just stands there before punching the wall and crying out in a fit of rage. I pick up the black material and realize what it is. All of the sudden I feel empty inside. It's Ari's Nightshade dress, ripped and punctured like she was wearing it when she was attacked. The thing is heavily soaked in blood. I hear the sound of a scanner and Batman shudder.

"It's her blood. It's a match Connor." He becomes solemn.

"She has to be alive somewhere." I try to tell him. He shakes his head.

"The amount of blood matched her body mass. They bled her out. She's gone." He nearly whisper.

"No. She has to be alive." My voice cracks. He presses his comm.

"Batman to Watchtower, relay the message to the Leaguers and the Team members in the field. Order's have been changed to finding her body." He reports quietly. I notice my hands trembling as they hold the dress. She's gone and I didn't even say goodbye. Just the supply closet, then vanishing into thin air. I follow Batman back to the zeta tube and we go to Watchtower. I excuse myself to the memorial garden. I let out a cry out of anger and agony. But it's not enough, so I begin to wail on the thickest tree I can find. Hits hard enough to release my tension, but light enough to not take down the tree. When I don't need to hit any more, the anxiety and panic rises in my chest. _She's gone._ A voice says in my head. I may be high and mighty but there is only place I can be the might help me calm down. I go from the garden to the supply closet. I slide down the wall and sit in the corner. I may be Superboy, but my invulnerability can't save me from this kind of pain. I picture her how I saw her at the party, smiling and having the time of her life. But the pain grows and she changes, becoming saddened. She just looks at me with a single tear rolling down her face.

"You let me go, Connor." The hallucination whimpers. "You let me go without an explanation, and now I'm gone." She cries.

"You can't be." I tell her but she begins to fade from my mind, her face contorting in anger.

"I'm dead, Connor. They killed me, and no one heard my screaming. No one came to save me!" She screams as she disappears from my mind. I curl up and hold my head between my knees, slightly pulling on my hair. My heavy breathing comes as a surprise. I have never experienced a loss like this. I had never experienced anyone like Ari before, and her death is like nothing I ever want to experience again. Nothing I can ever handle again. I can barely handle this now and we just found out. Now the Team and the League are looking for clues to find her body. None of them but her family can even come close to imagining what I am feeling right now. I feel like someone reached into my chest and ripped me apart, piece by piece. But they need me now, I'm sure Batman is out for blood now. I get up and go the mission control center.

"What can I do?" I ask Batman as he consults with Green Arrow and Flash. The only other two who understand crime and forensics.

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Apokolips**

**same day**

"I'm impressed." Granny Goodness claps her hand together. "Your skills are growing to be unparalleled by any warrior I've ever seen." She compliments me as I stand up from my limp opponent. The exposed wires sparking and crackling. They only let me fight androids so far as to preserve their warriors from my wrath. I smile at Granny.

"When do I get to slaughter the living?" I ask intently as she approaches me. She laughs heavily.

"Let's not get too hasty, child. Darkseid will decide when you are ready to battle the furies tomorrow." She informs. I bow and exit the arena. I find my way back to my room and shower. the dust and grime from the dirt floor arena cling to my skin until I give it a good scrub with a luffa. When I finish washing my hair, I step out of the shower and dry off. I pull on a tank top and cotton shorts and brush out my wet hair. The only thing I can do now is sit in my room until a slave arrives with my dinner. The silence is nice. I sit on my bed and read on of the books Luthor brought me as I wait. There is a knock on my door, so I go and answer. This time, its is a chained child with a tray of food. I take the tray and give them a much needed smile.

"Thank you, you are dismissed." I say politely and they smiles. But, the little child quickly regains their broken demeanor and leaves. I bump the door closed with my hip and sit down with my meal. The nostalgia comes in a wave from the last night I was with the Joker and Harley all those years ago. The tray of food is a cheeseburger and fries with a cookie dough milk shake. The only thing different is that there is a little desert of a red velvet cupcake. I begin to eat as the fiery light leaves the sky, like sundown. There is another knock on the door. I get up and open it, to see Connor. But, the color of his eyes are wrong.

"Hello, Ari." Fake Connor says. I sit back down and continue eating as he comes in.

"Your aren't the real Connor Kent. I know it's you, Klarion." I growl as I continue to eat.

"You're really good at spotting the flaw I make." He smiles as he turns back into his witch boy self.

"It's because you always pick something with the face. Chaos personified is oddly predictable." I give him a look as he sits across from me at the little table.

"Well that's no fun. My kind of chaos is disorderly, nor predictable. Not containing memorable trends." He grumbles to himself.

"If you're here for the same reason as last time, the answer is still no." I tell him as I keep eating my dinner.

"I bet you would say yes if I looked like this." He turns himself back into Connor. This time, getting the eyes right.

"The problem is, I still know that you're Klarion." I tease him just before I put a fry in my mouth.

"Oh come on, you know you're attracted to this form." He whispers in my ear in Connor's voice. A shiver runs through my body and Klarion laughs in satisfaction.

"I refuse. I may not be a the same, but I still don't cheat. It's no fun." I give him a look and he shuts up. But, he doesn't leave. Just sits there with his cat as I eat.


	17. Chapter 17

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Apokolips**

**September 30, 2016**

Today, the Light has come to see me perform against the Furies. So far, I'm sitting in my room, waiting for collection. I'm dressed in my uniform with my hair pulled back into a french braid. I look in the mirror and line my eyes with with thick, black eyeliner. My lips already darkened by the deep red lipstick. I may be younger and smaller than the Furies, but I sure as hell will be just as powerful and intimidating. Just as I finish the mascara, there is a knock on the door. I open it to see a slave. This time it is a man in rags.

"Darkseid sent me to collect you and take you to the arena." He looks at the floor sheepishly.

"Alrighty then, let's go." I sigh, following the limping man to the barred gates of the arena. I enter as the gates drop behind me, trapping me inside. I look up to my right and see the members of the Light standing around Darkseid and Granny Goodness.

"Let the fight _begin_!" Granny bellows in her manly voice. I see the Furies enter the arena, weapons of choice gleaming in the light. I hold my ground. These women are breaking six feet and every muscle on their bodies ripples as they move, but I'm not afraid. Granny said so herself, I am unparalleled. Artemiz attacks first, firing her bio-seeking arrows at me. I go diamond, causing them to bounce off me with ease. I grab a few from the ground and throw them at her, two pierce the skin in her arm. She continues to fire at me as I run at her, sweeping her legs and disarming her. It becomes hand to hand combat, she is agile, I'll give her that. But, I grew up fighting one of the greatest human acrobats of the human race. Naturally, I find the pattern and kick her legs out from under her, slamming her into the ground with one hand and punching her temple to knock her out. She goes down.

"Who's next?" I taunt the other furies with a grin on my face. Bernadeth steps forward, her knife in hand. We both know that knife won't work on me, but she can't help but try anyway. I dodge all of her slashes before I begin to attack.

"You can't fight an apokoliptian god." She laughs. I grab her wrists and glare into her near black eyes.

"Watch me." I phase through her causing her to grab her chest in sputter. I swing around and land a kick to her side, she falls over. She rolls over and kicks my chest, sending me flying. Before I can hit the ground, I hover for a second and fly at her at my top speed. The impact explodes with a sonic boom. Bernadeth falls limp on the ground. I hear a little applause from the stands.

"As if you'll last long enough to knock me out." Bloody Mary comes to me. Her red eyes beginning to glow. I know what will happen if she looks at me, but I have a good defense. The beams shoot from her eyes and just before they hit me, I put up a field and they bounce off. the idea hits me. When I drop the field, she jumps at me just as I have anticipated. But what I didn't expect was that she was going to grab me and throw me into a wall. She grabs my neck and slides me up the wall.

"You're going to have trouble suffocating me if I'm like this." I laugh at her, referring to my diamond hard skin. I kick her off and just as the beams leave her eyes, I trap her in a bubble of my force-field and the beams redirect and hit her. She crumples to the bottom of the bubble. I release her and wait for my next challenger.

"I guess it's my turn." Mad Harriet laughs as she scratched her claws against each other. Now this is a joke. Ask if she can hurt me, but I want to entertain her so I level the playing field by fading out of diamond form. She grins and begins slashing at me. She actually gets me a few times but I grab her wrists and slam her into the ground to my left. She snarls at me but I sit on her, pinning her wrists with my knees. I repeatedly punch her face until she goes unconscious. I glare at Malice Vundabar and she just stands there.

"I want some real fun." I tell her, she smiles. I just watch as she reaches out with her hand. The disembodied mouth appears before me. The savage chessure under a fury's control is not something to be taken lightly. The mouth snarls and snaps at me as I leap and dive to avoid being bitten. Just as it finally gets me, I phase so it passes right through me. I hear Malice's groan of annoyance. The mouth grows in ferocity and snaps at anything it can reach. The plan becomes simple, I turn invisible and attack Malice. She screams in pain as I break her arm. The mouth disappears in her distraction, so I re appear and hit her skull hard enough that she face plants in the dirt.

"That's a shame, but I bet you can't even land a hit on me." Speed Queen grins. She runs at me and flips me on my back. I get up but she throws me a few yards. We keep going like this until I finally snap. I phase so she can't touch me. Once in range, I make a force field around the two of us and them proceed to face out of it until it's just her. I shrink the field until she's enclosed in a small space. She punches the barriers repeatedly but I'm just amused at her struggle. I put my hand on the field and blast her with energy. She drops to the bottom of her bubble, steaming. I release her and look at the rest of the furies.

"Who's next?" I ask the remaining three. Stompa grumbles and steps forward. The burly woman is gettinging ready to cause a seismic event. She stomps and the ground shakes violently, but I just float up, removing contact with the ground. I fly at her with the speed of earlier, but she is just knocked down, breaking heavily like I knocked the wind out of her.

"Silly girl." Stompa laughs, but I just grab her arm and pick her up off the ground so she can't use her power. She fights me strenuously but it's no use. My grip is inescapable. I'm hundreds of feet above the arena when I drop her. When she is about halfway down, I fly after her and punch her gut as hard as I can, accelerating her fall. When she lands, she is limp in a crater. I look at Wunda, knowing she has no chance against me. She blasts her light energy at me and I just go diamond, refracting the lights all around me. The ground cracks, parts of walls crumble. I raise my hand and focus, blasting her repeatedly with my concentrated field. She lies on the ground, trying to pick herself back up but she can't. I look at the last Fury. Take her down and no one will want to fight you in fear of losing. She is the leader, Lashina.

"Impressive. But it may not be enough." She laughs as her whips become electrically charged. I take a stance. She runs at me and flicks one of the whips at me, it wrapping around my arm and shoulder. The great part is, it feels just how I remember it. I laugh, which confuses Lashina. She whips the other one around my head.

"You think flossing my brain is gonna stop me?" I giggle at her. She grits her teeth. I grip the whips and wind them up my arm, pulling myself closer and closer to her. She fight, trying to pull me off balance but I continue to maintain my composure. Once I'm face to race with her, I rip the whips from her suit, disarming her.

"I don't need weapons to beat you." She punched me in the face. I grab her shoulders and smash my knee into her gut. She grunts and smashes my head into the ground. Just before impact, I go diamond to avoid injury. I wrap my legs around her torso and flip us so I'm on top. I grab her neck to suffocate her but she throws me off. I'm getting tired of hand to hand combat so I put out my hand and blast her with the concentrated field. She is blasted off her feet. I keep firing until she is down. Now that they are all out, I look at Darkseid for approval.

"She is ready to return to your planet." He tells the Light. I am released from the arena to return to my room. I shower and pack up. When I meet the Light in the throne room with Darkseid, I am dressed inconspicuously in shorts and a t-shirt, a baseball cap on my head.

"Ready to go?" Queen Bee asks me. I nod.

"It has been quite the experience watching your progress. I anticipate your next visit." Darkseid tells me. I bow my head in respect. Klarion opens a portal and we all leave. When we exit the portal, I recognize the skyline of Chicago.

"Why are we here?" I ask them. "Martian Manhunter patrols this city, he could find me." Ra's looks at me.

"He won't. We have taken precautions. Klarion and Luthor will take you to the safehouse. You will wait there until given orders otherwise." Ra's tells me.

"Yes, sir." I obey. They all leave in a boom tube portal, leaving me alone with Clarion and Luthor. A limo pulls up and Mercy comes out, opening the door for us. We all slide in and head into the city. I watch as the building go by as we grow closer and closer to the heart of the city. When the car stops, we are at the service entrance of the Trump tower. I don't question it as they lead me inside and take my up the service elevator, making sure my head is down as to not have my face recorded on camera. Once all the way up stairs, I realize they have just put me in the penthouse of the Trump.

"92nd floor. Not bad, boys. Not bad at all." I smile as I drop my duffel and flop on the white sofa.

"Nothing but the best for the Black Diamond." Klarion says as he sits in the armchair across from me.

"Black Diamond? Is that my code name now?" I smirk at the Witchboy as his cat climbs onto his lap.

"If you don't like it, pick a new one." He leans back.

"No, it has a nice ring to it." I tell him as I get up. I go into the kitchen and open the pantry. I grab a jar of nutella and a spoon from the silverware drawer and sit back down with Klarion.

"I have to go soon so Mercy will make sure everything is set before I go." Lex tells me as Mercy goes about the place, scanning everything. He hands me a phone. "This is to replace your old phone. Your family may be able to trace your old phone so I suggest not using it. Also, you have a visitor coming in an hour." He tells me.

"Should I know who?" I ask him as he head towards the door. He smiles.

"Who it is, is a surprise but don't worry, you know them. Also, they have some footage to show you." He says as he and Mercy leave out the door. Klarion gets up.

"I cast a cloaking spell around here, if we don't want someone to recognize you, they'll just see you as some ordinary girl. Just to let you know, they'll see you with blond hair and brown eyes. You'll look a bit younger too." He lets me know.

"Cool, no one will know." I nod in approval. Klarion grbs his cat and opens a portal.

"I have to go, I'll be checking in on you later." He says. I wave goodbye as he leaves. When his portal closes, I pick up my duffel and begin unpacking in my bedroom. The place is beautiful with shiny white and silver furniture. Most of the walls are windows looking out onto the city in all directions. I open the closet to hang things up to see a whole rack of dresses and ball gowns. Apparently, I'm going to need them. Once all my things are put away, I decide I explore the entertainment center in the living room. They must not want me to get bores, because I find two different gaming stations with at least thirteen or fourteen games each, the best sound system I have ever seen and a large flat screen mounted on the wall. Naturally, the first thing I do is grab my ipod and plug it into the dock. As soon as I pick as song, it fills the penthouse. I slip into a mindset that just lets me dance and flow with the music. Letting the music wash over me, my body mindlessly moving in tune with each song. After a few songs, I hear the door open so I turn down the music.

"Hello?" I ask. They face I see is not one I expect. "Leigh?" I tilt my head in confusion. She comes looking like a whole different person, dark makeup and black clothing.

"Hey, Ari." She comes and hugs me. "You've been gone for a while." It clicks. She and I have been friends since I returned to school after my time with Joker and Harley. I've never met her parents and she was the one friend I always did certain illegal things with.

"So, Luthor said you had something to show me?" I ask her as we sit down on the sofa.

"Yeah, but first I'm going to give you the rundown." She smiles.

"Okay, do you want me to get you a drink or something first?" I ask, she shakes her head.

"Later. Okay, so you've been gone for over a month. You were filed as missing the day after you disappeared. It was all over the news. A week later, the Batman led the police to a crime scene. There was a room covered in your blood with signs of a struggle as well as splatter patterns that suggested you were tortured. The amount of blood suggests you were bled out and killed. When the blood came back as a match, you were filed as deceased. I just came from your funeral." She tells me. I almost laugh.

"Did they bury and empty casket?" I ask her, trying to contain my morbid amusement. She laughs.

"No, just put up a grave stone. They left the plot alone incase your body gets found." Leigh laughs as she pulls out a tablet from her bag. She turns it on a presses play on a camera.

"You wore a mini camera, didn't you?" I look at her with respect. You gotta be pretty ballsy to wear a hidden camera in front of Batman and get away with it.

"Your family looked distraught, in the angry vengeful kind of way. I gotta give them credit, most families are bawling and broken after a death in the family such as this." She compliments them.

"You don't know them like I do." I laugh. "You want that drink now?" She nods. We go into the kitchen and I pull two beers out of the fridge. I pull off the caps and we drink.

"I saw your setup over there, wanna play a game?" She asks. I nod and we go.


	18. Chapter 18

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Chicago**

**October 11, 2016**

I hear someone open the front door as I slip on a white skater dress. I put on some spandex shorts underneath and head out into the main room. Klarion, Luthor, Mercy, and Harley are here.

"Oh you are a vision in white." Klarion says to me. "Maybe wear something like that on the town with me." He asks me out.

"Sorry, Witchboy. I'm too old for you." But just as the words come out of my mouth, he matures before my very eyes.

"I'm a Lord of Chaos, I can be whatever form I choose." He speaks with a manly voice.

"A relationship between a sociopath and a psychopath never ends well." I taunt him. He frowns. "So, what do I owe the pleasure?" I ask them.

"Klarion made a glamour charm so you can leave the house." Luthor states as Harley puts it on me. I look down and see that it is a glittering blue crystal on a silver chain.

"What do I look like?" I ask. Harley snaps a picture with an old camera.

"See for yourself." She says as she waves the polaroid and hands it to me. I look at it and see that I look nearly the same, just blonde with golden brown eyes. My scars are even gone.

"That's pretty cool. So why do I need the charm?" I ask as I straighten the chain so the clasp is at the back of my neck.

"We need you to start _running into_ different member's of the team. When you say the code phrase, _dead diamond_, you will become what you would have looked like if you really were murdered in that crime scene. Now, try it." Luthor orders. I nod.

"Dead diamond." Just as I speak the words, Luthor and Klarion take an uneasy step back. Harley just snaps another picture. When I see this polaroid, I see myself in my Nightshade dress, it shredded in certain places. There are bruises gashes all over my body, all scabbed over. I focus on my face. I have a black eye on the left and on the right side of my face, a gash running from my eyebrow to my jaw, just barely missing my eye. My lower lip is split and my nose broken. I'm transparent like a ghost. But what really sells it, there is a cut running across my throat, like it was slit.

"You like it?" Harley asks. I smile.

"Damn, Klarion. You did a great job." I complement. "Dead diamond." I say and I become the blondie again.

"You are going to drive the team insane. Your father included." Luthor orders. I grin.

"When do I start?" I ask.

"Now." Klarion orders.

"How do you want me to go about this?" I ask.

"Turn invisible and fly to Watchtower. When you leave the earth's atmosphere, turn diamond and hold your breath. Phase through the side and wait some to come into the mission room and work your magic. We know you took acting classes for a few years, so we expect results." Luthor orders. "Oh, and don't worry about the Martians. The charm makes it seem like you aren't even there telepathically." I nod.

"Alright, see you when it's done." I salute them and turn invisible. I phase through the ceiling flying off at my fastest speed possible. I go diamond and once I'm in the last layer of oxygen, I take a deep breath. I explode in speed and just as my lungs begin to burns, I phase through the side of Watchtower. I silently breath to stay hidden. "Black Diamond." I whisper to myself, I feel the change like the magic waving over me. I tuck the glamour charm into my dress and go out of diamond form. I fly into the mission room and see Nightwing on the holo computer. Wonder Girl and Aqualad are training as Robin and Bart watch. It's a pretty good crowd. I fly over to Nightwing and phase so I can get close without him touching me.

"Dickie…" I whimper, half crying. His eyes widen and look around. Nothing's there so he goes back to the computer. I float away slightly so I don't hurt his ears. "Dickie!" I cry out shrilly, my voice rasping slightly. Everything stops and everyone looks around.

"Did you…?" Aqualad asks with worry.

"I think we all did." Robin gulps. I smile, laying myself on the floor carefully as to not make any noise, I stay phasing so no one will be able to touch me. I become visible on the floor. Cassie screams. Dick runs over and tries to hold me, but his hands pass right through me. I turn invisible and fly up to the ceiling. Connor runs in.

"I heard screaming. Is everything alright?" He asks worriedly. This is perfect, he saw the crime scene. Now I can really sell it.

"We saw…" Robin falters.

"Superboy, it was Ari. She was… she was…" Nightwing is all choked up. How sweet. I fly down to the floor and get ready for the perfect moment.

"She was what?" He asks with urgency. That's my cue. I put my leg out like someone is holding it. I become visible and fly backwards slowly to make it look like I'm being dragged.

"No! Stop! Please!" I scream as I claw at the floor as I'm being 'dragged'. I turn invisible again and look at everyone's faces. I hold back a laugh. These reactions are priceless. I fly up to the ceiling and wait.

"Aqualad to League. We think Ari has… _found_… us." The Atlantean says in his comm. After about ten minutes, Leaguers start arriving via zeta tubes. So far, it's Aquaman, Flash, Rocket,

Zatanna, Superman, Black Canary, and Wonder Woman.

"What happened?" Black Canary asks.

"We… _saw_ her." Connor whispers. The present Leaguers look shocked.

"Her body?" Rocket asks. Zatanna begins to breath heavily, I go stiff. She might sense my glamour charm.

"I'm getting the same feeling I got from Secret." She looks down.

"The ghost you and Artemis found that Halloween?" Dick asks. She nods. Captain Marvel, Green Arrow, and finally Batman show up. I get an idea. I fly down to the center of the room, continuing to phase.

"What is going on?" Batman asks angrily. I take that as my cue and scream at the top of my lungs, flickering in and out of invisibility. Everyone steps back from me. I disappear and fly up from the heroes.

"No." Wonder Woman whimpers. I turn on the water works and float down and stand directly in front of Connor. When I re-appear, some people jump in fear.

"You knew something was up, and you didn't stop me." I cry. "Why didn't you stop me?" I hyperventilate on purpose to look like a broken girl.

"I didn't know, I'm sorry." Connor's voice cracks. I disappear and fly in front of my dad. I wipe away the tears and make a blank face. I re-appear inches away from his face. I stop phasing for a second to lift off his cowl, the phase again. He reaches to touch me but his hand goes right through me.

"Ari?" He whispers.

"Daddy." I whisper.

"If it's you, can you tell me where your body is? Who your killer is?" He asks with a regained composure.

"He _burned _it." I say with an undertone of anger. "He _burned_ it!" I yell at my dad. I watch him shutter.

"Who killed you?" He asks as everyone watches us. I float away from him, passing through people.

"He found me. _Defiled_ me. _Defiled_ the house." I turn to face them. I widen my eyes a get a glazed over look.

"Who?" Nightwing asks. I get the best idea to throw the completely off.

"As in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came." I recite in the perfect scottish accent. I disappear and fly to my dad.

"What does that mean?" Zatanna is still hyperventilates.

"Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll." Robin says. I lean into my dad's ear.

"And through and through, The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with it's head, He went galumphing back." I whisper.

"Why is she reciting poetry?" Captain Marvel asks.

"That's why on the back of a brown paper bag, he tried another poem, and he called it _Absolutely Nothing_, because that's what it was really all about, and he gave himself an A and a slash on each damned wrist, and he hung it on the bathroom door, because this time he didn't think, he could reach the kitchen." I say as I flicker in front of Captain Marvel. This is amusing. Hopefully they'll think that I'm dropping clues.

"The poem from Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower." Wonder Girl says.

"We are all going, I thought, and it applies to turtles and turtlenecks, Alaska the girl and Alaska the place, because nothing can last, not even the earth itself. The Buddha said that suffering was caused by desire, we'd learned, and that the cessation of desire meant the cessation of suffering. When you stopped wishing things wouldn't fall apart, you'd stop suffering when they did." I say, stroking Connor's cheek.

"Looking for Alaska by John Green." Rocket whispers.

"What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird." I say before I drop drop to the floor, curling into a ball and covering my ears. I scream at the top of my lungs. I make it come to a sudden stop and float up and breath funny like someone is choking me. It's hard to keep a straight face, but I kick and thrash like I'm fighting, the disappear. Everyone's faces are horrified.

"She left us clues." My dad says, makinging me happy that he fell for it. I take a deep breath, go diamond and phase through the window, flying as fast as I can back to earth. Once back in Chicago, I go back to my place. It's empty so I take off the charm and put it in my vanity. I go back out into the living room and go into the kitchen. I'm pouring a glass of fruit punch and someone appears behind me. They embrace me from behind, resting their chin on my shoulder and wrapping their hands around my waist. The touch is oldy relaxing. I turn around and see that it's the mature version of Klarion.

"Mission accomplished?" He asks in a seductive tone, lightly running his hand down my arm. It sends chills through my body.

"And then some." I smile. I take his warm hands and put them on my temples. He watches what happened through my memories. When he removed his hands, he looks at me in amazement.

"I was right when I told the light to keep you." He gives me this crooked smile that puts me weak at the knees for a split second. He snaps his fingers and a little flash drive appears in his hands. "A copy of your memories on a little drive to give to the Light." He smirks.

"Genius. I don't have to give them a run down." I smile. He leans in and starts kissing my neck. "You're treading on dangerous waters, Witch boy." I grumble. He pulls away.

"I'm an ageless Lord of Chaos. This isn't my first rodeo." He whispers. I grab his neck.

"This isn't my first either." I pin him on the wall. He turns back into a boy and laughs.

"Fine. I'll leave you alone." He take the drive and vanishes with a snap of his fingers. I relax and drink my fruit punch, alone in my kitchen. I grab a packet of s'mores poptarts from the pantry and sit on the sofa. I eat the poptarts periodically as I play a warfare video game. The day goes on with me getting kill streaks and climbing military ranks.


	19. Chapter 19

**Connor Kent's pov **

**Chicago**

**October 21, 2016**

It' been ten days since we all saw her. I don't know what to do with this information, the fact that she is can come back. I've been coming to Chicago to see M'gann, to talk. She understands me more that anyone beside Ari. But I can't talk to a dead girl about how I feel about her current state. M'gann and I are at coffee shop on Michigan Avenue, just people watching and talking.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you since before she… you know." She asks, warming her hands around her coffee cup.

"I've been better, but it could be worse." I tell her as I watch the civillains pass by. People heading to work and shoppers just all heading in their own paths.

"I know the feeling." She says to me.

"I mean, she's dead. This is just making it harder to let go because she is still _here_." I take a sip of my coffee like it might calm me down.

"I know the feeling. Do you think if you saw her again, you would figure out how this all makes you feel?" M'gann asks. I shrug, remembering her ghastly form. My focus on the horrifying slit across her throat.

"I don't know. It' complicated." I say. We sit in silence for a moment, then we see two girls walk into the Starbucks. The blonde and the brunette are laughing loudly. But in that moment, I notice something. _M'gann_. I say in my mind. She looks at me.

_What is it? _She seems confused because I usually don't talk to her like this anymore.

_Does the brunette look familiar to you?_ I ask her. There is a silence, then she grabs my arm.

_She was at the funeral._ M'gann realizes. Then it hits me.

_I know who that is. She was one of Ariella's friends from school. Her name is Leigh._ I think to M'gann.

_What is she doing so far from Gotham during a school day?_ M'gann asks.

_I don't know but I think we should trail her. _I tell her as the girls leave. The two of us grab our coffees and walk out, keeping visual on the girls.

_You may just be paranoid, Connor. _M'gann worries. I shake my head.

_There is something off about Leigh being here. _I tell her as we follow the two girls from store to store until they finally get to the Trump Tower. I use my infrared vision to track them through the building.

_Where did they go?_ M'gann asks.

_Penthouse. This is getting weirder and weirder. _I tell her, but she puts a hand on my shoulder.

_Maybe she is just visiting a friend?_ M'gann asks me. But I have this pit in my stomach.

_I don't think so. _I tell her. She sighs and we go to an alley.

_I'll fly up their and telepathically project to you what I see._ She tells me as she camouflages herself. I wait as I watch through her eyes. She flies to the roof and density shifts her head though the ceiling. I see the two girls playing video games. The mystery girl is absolutely destroying Leigh.

"I swear to god you cheat somehow." Leigh playfully hits the mystery girl as they play.

"Hand eye coordination isn't hard to come by when you've trained with the best." Mystery girl laughs. The sound bounces around the house in a chilled echo.

"Whatever." Leigh laughs as someone comes in.

"Girls, You have an assignment." A manly voice says.

"Uncle Ra's!" Leigh gets up and runs to who I recognize as Ra's al Ghul. The mystery blonde approaches Ra's

_Connor, Ra's al Ghul is here. Do you think the girls are agents of the Light?_ M'gann asks me.

_I don't know. Stay there just a little longer. _I tell her. She keeps watching.

"So what do you want me to do?" The mystery blonde asks the leader of the Shadows.

"The assignment is a repeat of haunt, but only on a specific person. Get the clone alone, show him the dead girl. This will be on halloween if you can see the irony in that. His location will be disclosed before you are ordered to go after him. Do not engage in activities of the sexual manner. Get him alone any way you can without the use of seduction." Ra's orders.

"Oh, come on! I can't have any fun with him?" Mystery girl poubts, but the master assassin just gives her a look. She glares at him angrily. "Fine, I'll be as detached as possible."

"Good. Now, I have to leave. Leigh, you have to leave with me. Your mother wished for you to return home to the Island." He says to the girl. She nods and grabs her bags.

"I'll see you in a few days, okay?" Leigh hugs the mystery blonde.

"You better be back for when I finish my assignment. I want a night on the town." Mystery blonde says as she closes the door after the two. The girl goes to her room and flops on the bed. She pulls a necklace out of her shirt and fiddles with the blue crystal on it. "Will I have to wear this the rest of my life?" She asks herself on the bed.

_M'gann_, I say into the link, _let's go. We have enough for the league. _I tell her.

_Alright, give me a minute._ M'gann say as she stops projecting what she sees. She soon flies up to me and we head to the nearest zeta tube. Once at Watchtower, I find Batman talking to Nightwing at the holo computer.

"Batman, we stumbled upon some intel about the Light's newest recruits as well as one's identity and the other's next assignment." I inform the caped crusader. He and Nightwing face me and M'gann.

"We were in Chicago as Connor recognized someone who definitely shouldn't have been there. We pursued her and her friend until we made it to the Trump Tower. They went to the penthouse so Connor hid in an alley as I camouflaged and surveyed the two." M'gann begins.

"The girl was one of Ariella's best friends. Her name was Leigh is that rings any bells. We knew something was definitely up when Ra's al Ghul came. He brought the mystery Blonde an assignment. When he left with Leigh, it was confirmed by the two that he is her uncle. The assignment was get the clone alone, show him the dead girl. We don't know who the clone is, but we only know a handful that aren't under the use of the Light. We do know that this will happen on Halloween. They will know the clone's location and send her to him." I inform him. I notice that Nightwing has been typing everything we've said into the holo computer.

"Is that everything?" Batman asks monotonously. I nod. "We can assume the clone is you. You are the only one the light would have use showing the _dead girl_. When this girl comes to you, subdue and bring her to the Wayne enterprises warehouse in Gotham. The league will interrogate her there. Take every precaution possible, we don't know what she is capable of if the Light recruited her for their cause." He orders. I nod in understanding.

"I guess that means I actually have to go out on halloween then." I sigh.

"Great job, now get some rest. You look awful." Batman orders as he get's back to working with Nightwing. I walk away and head down the hall and find my room. I lay in the dark trying to sleep, but honestly, I may be Superboy but I'm afraid to sleep. I don't want to have the dreams that come with it.

**Gotham**

**October 31, 2016**

I walk around the club on alert. So far I haven't see the girl but the night is still young and she could show up any minute. I get a drink and lean on the bar, watching the crowd. I feel a little ridiculous. Dick though it would be fun if I went as Captain Marvel. He really wanted me to be Batman but I didn't want to make the real Bat angry. I stand there for a while until a blonde girl in a small red dress and horns walks up to me.

"You look competent, could you help me?" She asks in an urgent voice. I notice her face under the dark makeup. It's mystery girl dressed as a devil.

"What do you need?" I ask her. She looks worried but I know it's a cover.

"My friend, she got drunk and passed out outside. Could you help me get her home?" She asks me.

"Sure. Don't want someone in her condition out and about on a night like this." I tell her as she leads me to the door.

"Exactly." She nods and leads me out the front door. She takes me to an alley way. This is where it's going to happen.

"Where is your friend?" I ask her. Just before she can say anything, I hit her head and she slumps to the ground. I throw the mystery girl over my shoulder and jump onto the roof of the building. I go from rooftop to rooftop until I make it to the warehouse. Waiting inside are Superman and the real Captain Marvel. I sit the girl down in the chair in the center of the empty warehouse and let the two leaguers restrain her arms. They also step on her feet to pin them in place. Batman and a few other leaguers enter as the girl wakes up.

"Oh wow. How did you know?" She asks with a slight laugh, but it just grows louder as Black Canary slaps an inhibitor collar on her.

"That's not necessary knowledge." Batman tells her. "That collar inhibits super strength, flight, speed, and basically every possible power that could be used to escape. _So,_ let's talk." He glares at her in such a way that even I feel intimidated. Superman and Captain Marvel let go after she is bound at the hands and feet. A smile grows on her face and she just chuckles to herself.

"As if you can get anything out of me!" She sings. There is this wild look in her eyes that I have only seen in villains that murder for fun, and without purpose. _Bloodlust_. Something sparkles on her chest. It's the crystal necklace. Must have fallen out of her dress, it now dangles in the open.

"Really?" Batman is getting irritated. "J'onn." He looks at Martian Manhunter. I see his eyes glow for a minute, then cease.

"There… is no _mind_ to interrogate." The martian remarks with shock.

"Zatanna." Batman looks at the magician, she steps forward.

"Trulb tuo ruoy ytitnedi." She casts the spell.

"Black Diamond." The girl grits the words, like she is fighting the spell.

"Ask her why the light needs her." Batman orders the magician. Zatanna takes a breath.

"Trulb tuo yhw eht thgil sdeen uoy!" She almost yells at the girl.

"I'm their perfect warrior." The girl spits out and can't help but laugh at us all. She is amused by this and really doesn't care.

"This is really nice, obvious questions that don't even give away anything." She grins and leans her head back.

"Ask her why Martian Manhunter can't read her mind." Batman whispers in Zatanna's ear. This is a moment where my super hearing comes in handy.

"Trulb tuo yhw naitrm retnuhnam t'nac daer reh dnim!" Zatanna cast the spell with force. It's almost scary.

"The glamour charm around my neck!" She blurts, realizes what she said and starts laughing. Zatanna comes close to take the charm off, but the girl whips her head around, throwing off the devil horn headband. She flips her hair to cover her face, as Zatanna unclasps the charm. There is a little glow and her blonde hair turns black, her body begins to tone up with muscles, and her fair skin darkens to a tan.

"Everyone back away from her." Batman orders. "Zatanna." He growels.

"Wohs ruoy eurt ecaf!" She commands. The girl's head shoots up and no one can believe it. I become angry and confused. The leaguers in the room become uneasy. Batman just looks blank. The girl just laughs and laughs like she has a need to fill the place with noise. This girl before me seems broken, like someone forced her into becoming a psychopath.

"Ari?" Batman asks. The next statement proves me that this is real, she's alive.

"Hi, daddy." She gives Batman a crooked smile.


	20. Chapter 20

**Connor Kent's pov**

**Gotham**

**November 1, 2016**

It's just after midnight, I'm watching her watch me. She hasn't taken her eyes off me for over an hour. At this point, I don't know if she is actually staring or just zoned out in my general direction. I hear Batman on a communicator off to my left, but I can't bring myself to look away from her. I can't decide if I'm happy or afraid that she's alive.

"Make sure a cell is ready when I bring her in." I hear Batman. "Take every precaution, she is highly trained and may try to escape. If you have to remove her from her cell, make sure she is restrained. She is high level security, make no exception to anything when it comes to her." He tells whomever is on the other line of his communicator. Wherever she's going, she won't be getting out anytime soon.

"You okay? Your staring contest has been going on for over an hour." It's Zatanna. I break my gaze and look at her.

"It's weird." I tell her as I look back at Ari. "I mean, she's here… but she's not. I used to look into those eyes and see that happy, brave, _stubborn_ girl. But now, I look into those eyes and I see nothing." I tell Zatanna in a hushed tone, as to not let Ari hear.

"Connor," Zatanna puts her hand on my shoulder and leads me further away from Ariella. "They did something to her… _changed_ her. You need to understand that she may be beyond helping." I hear the words but I don't want to register them. I know she may not be in there somewhere, but I really need her to be.

"Connor." Someone mumbles under their breath. "Connor." They whisper. I look in the direction of the whispers. It's coming from Ari. "I know you can hear me, come here." She whispers so faintly that I doubt anyone else can hear it. I walk towards her and she smiles.

"What do you want?" I ask her quietly.

"My headband. I want to look pretty when they take me in." She smiles. I grab the headband and check it. Nothing suspicious, but you can never be sure.

"Superman!" I call to the only one who can really know for sure. He comes over. "She wants her headband. If you don't mind, I think we should check it." I toss it to him. He catches and focuses on it.

"There's nothing here. It's just a headband." He hands it back to me. I give it to her and she slides it into her hair as best she can with the handcuffs.

"Thank you, Connor." She grins so wide that I could almost swear one of her eyes twitched. I go to leave but Canary grabs my shoulder as to stop me.

"I don't want to be around for this." I pull my shoulder out of her grip. But she steps in front of me this time.

"If this makes you uncomfortable, fine. But you sure as hell won't turn your back on this, on _her._" Canary snaps at me. I walk past her and go outside, sliding down the wall and breathing the crisp cool air. I don't understand how Batman and Wonder Woman are handling this. They are her _parents_ for crying out loud. But that's just it. They are holding themselves together to front their problems and look strong detached in front of their daughter. I sit for a minute until cop cars roll up, escorting a GPD transport vehicle. The door opens next to me and Batman is walking out with Ari tightly secured. He's brooding and angry, but she is just smiling as he basically drags her to the truck. She sits down in the truck with police officers with rifles climbing in after her.

"If you think this is gonna solve anything, you've got another thing coming, Batsy!" She yells as the doors are closed. I walk over to Batman.

"Where are they taking her?" I ask him as the truck drives away. He exhales deeply.

"The only place that can handle someone like her." He pauses like her doesn't want to say it. "I've arranged for her to be taken to Arkham Asylum here in Gotham." He looks at me and we walk back to the leaguers. We all head the the zeta-tubes and return to Watchtower. The first thing I do is change out of the Captain Marvel monkey suit and pull on some normal clothes. There's no way in hell I'm sleeping tonight.

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Arkham Asylum**

_**later in the day**_

Real early this morning, they brought me to this lovely facility and pushed me into a room for processing. I made the guards turn around as I changed but that's their first mistake. I pull on the prison orange and hide the devil headband in my shirt and hide my bracelet in my bra. I pull on the plain white shoes and hide my bobby pins from my hair inside of them. I pull my hair into a ponytail and exhale deeply.

"Alright, boys. You can turn around now." I say in a deep tone. They all seem on edge, but I guess that's because Batman said a lot of good things about me. They brought me to my cell and I just went to sleep. No point in draining myself. At some point after I went to sleep, an alarm goes up and an intercom crackles to life.

"Eight a.m. wake up call, breakfast is being brought to the cells." A deep voice speaks in an enthusiastic tone. I slip the headband out of my shirt and under my pillow and the bracelet and hairpins under the mattress. I sit for a minute until the guards with the food cart arrive.

"Stay back." He orders as he sets the tray on the little shelf on the door. I take the tray and ignore the grotesque breakfast sandwich. No wonder no one get's better at Arkham, the stuff is disgusting. I may not even be here long enough to need to eat this food so it's fine. As soon as I throw the tray and sandwich out of my cell onto the wall, a shadow approaches.

"You shouldn't be wasting food like that." The deep voice says as he appears out of the shadows.

"I knew it was a matter of time before you showed up." I lean into the bars and look him right in the eyes.

"How are you even alive? That was your blood all over the room." He grumbles. I know my father well enough to know when he's struggling to keep his emotionless facade.

"You should be proud of me," I wrap my arms around the cell, "I put up one hell of a fight." I tell him. It's not really a lie if I'm mentally referring to when I was a child. There is no way I'm going to tell him my death was faked.

"How are you alive?" He pushes the question. I sigh and decide to tell him the truth.

"I'm alive because the Light wanted me to be." It is the truth. They could have killed me or sold me as a slave to Darkseid, or left me on the planet to become a fury.

"Why do they need you?" He asks. I don't need to answer his questions. There is no telepath or magician compelling me, so I decide to entertain him with a story instead.

"They wanted me from the beginning. When the Joker took me all those years ago, he was acting under their request. They wanted a detached and obedient girl to destroy their enemies." I tell him in a condescending, babyish tone.

"You kill people." I grits his teeth. I just laugh.

"I do something even better." I become serious, snapping at him with every word. "I kill people with your training." With that he just leaves. I call after him. "You may not have made me what I am but you sure as hell made it easy!" I scream after him. Now that he's gone, I just sit on my bed, smiling at the wall. I can see it now, my escape. But I must wait until night falls and the lights go out. It the best time to remain unseen. After a few hours, someone else comes to visit me. I giggle slightly to myself. So many visitors and only my first day.

"She's been sitting like that for hours." One of the guards says as he leads someone to my cell.

"And you said Batman paid her a visit earlier?" A familiar voice asks. I know exactly who has decided to come see me.

"It didn't last long, she started yelling at him as he left." The guard comments as the two appear in front of the cell.

"Hello, Connor." I whisper under my breath, knowing that only he can hear me. The guard leaves him alone outside my cell door.

"I just wanted to know _why._" I speaks in a low tone. This must be hard for him. To see the girl he loves turn into what he might think is a monster. But I'm no monster. I'm showing people the Light.

"Why? _Why?" _I raise my voice slightly. "Why what?"

"Why are you doing this? All of this?" He asks with a general sense.

"It's my job. My given purpose is to serve the Light." I tell him like it's an automatic response, sounding machine-like. I look down in confusion. The thing thing is, I don't really know what I was going to say. _Why do I do it?_ But the confusion quickly fades as I keep thinking about it.

"Earth the Ari. You okay?" Connor asks. That's sweet, he still worries.

"I'm fine." I whisper. His face is priceless, I can't help but laugh at him, he becomes aggravated.

"Do you think you could tell me what they wanted you to do?" He asks me in the sincerest tone.

"You mean what I'm going to do? You really think this cell can hold me? That Arkham can change me?" I can't help but laugh at him. The uncontrollable grinning and the incessant laughing is beginning to bother him, I can tell. "You hate it, don't you?" I look him dead in the eye.

"You aren't you anymore." He snaps. But I can't help but laugh even harder.

"Oh I'm the same me I've always been. My mind was _wiped clean_. I was always this way, subconsciously or not." I speak in a deep seductive tone, reaching through the bars to touch his face with my hand. He just looks at me, the corners of his mouth trying to curl into a smile.

"You're still there." He says quietly and enthusiastically before he briskly walks down the hall to leave me alone with the rest of the psychos in the cells surrounding mine. For some reason I feel excitement and relief bubbling up inside of my chest but it quickly subsides, like a wave of chills. I return to my cot and wait for night to come. It's like automatic movements and actions, but I quickly forget the emotion and confused thoughts. After a few hours of mind numbing silence and a crappy dinner, the intercom crackles to life.

"Ten p.m. Lights out." The deep voice from this morning states. The lights in my cell flicker off and wait for the guards to pass with their flashlights. As soon as they finish checking and double checking the cells, I pull the hair pins and bracelet out of my mattress. I straighten out the coiled metal and use it to unscrew the panel to the power couplets of the inhibitor collar. As soon as it's open, I use the pins to pull wires out to get to the power cells. As soon as I begin, the electric current flows from my neck to the rest of my body, but it doesn't hurt. I've been trained to endure, so I continue to rip out wires until the power cells are bare. I stick the straightened bracelet in between the and wedge out the first cell. The electric shock lessens, then dulls when I get the second power cell out. It completely stops when I get the last cell out. The collar turns off and I feel the rush of my abilities coming back. I phase so the collar drops off me and I phase right through the door of my cell so as not to set off alarms. I turn invisible and run. I run until the guards realise I'm missing. That's when I burst right through the front door of the asylum and take off in flight. Poor saps, they made it way to easy. The mistake men always make is turning around when I have to change for processing. Sure it's modest, but it lets the ladies sneak things into their incarceration facilities. I fly until the cold hurts my face, then I go diamond and speed up. The roar of wind in my ears in amazing until I'm going so fast that the air explodes around me as I break the sound barrier. I fly north east until I hit Lake Michigan. I circle until I find the familiar sky line and dive. For a little while, I free fall and just let the rush of adrenaline fill my being. I slow up to a stop and fly to the penthouse. I phase through the window and make a scramble for the phone. It rings a few times.

"Come on, pick up." I grumble in the silence. The like picks up.

"Ari, your escape was earlier that expected. Great job." He says calmly.

"I need to change locations. They could have tracked me." I tell him going into my bedroom and seeing it completely empty. I go back into the living room and see that most of the furniture is gone.

"You may have noticed that we took care of that already. You will find a boom tube on the counter in the kitchen. As it to take you to me." He says and the line cuts off. I go and grab the living computer from the granite countertop.


	21. Chapter 21

**Connor Kent's pov**

**The Batcave**

**November 1, 2016**

"I'm telling you there is something wrong. I looked at her and I saw _something_ else. My visit to her at Arkham only confirmed it." I try to tell Batman as he types away furiously at the Bat computer. He stops and sighs.

"There are no signs of temporary change, Connor. So far all of the signs point to it being permanent. You're right, it's not her. It _is_ something else. But there's nothing left to come back." He snaps. I just stare him down. "As much as I wish there was something of her left, there isn't." He just looks back at the giant screen and get's back to work once again.

"You have to believe me. There was a moment when I asked her why she was doing all of this and she just spit out an answer, but then got really confused. She went silent, not even smiling. When I got her attention again, I was close enough to where she could reach out and touch me through the bars. She put her hand to my face and told me her mind was wiped. She was always this way, subconsciously or not." I tell him what happened and he looks at me with a face I have never seen before. He is ever so slightly shocked, the emotion breaking through his facade.

"Connor, do not breathe a word to anyone about this. We cannot compromise the situation." He orders, looking me dead in the eye.

"How do you think they got her this way?" I ask him. He seems to think on it for a second.

"She was reconditioned when the Joker took her, when she returned, the traces of healing injuries suggested they were torturing her. They must have fired enough nerves to begin retraining her, but I don't know how they altered her mind. There's no way they could have completely changed her into this without a telepath or magic." Batman changes screens on the giant computer and starts typing furiously. I watch as he researches on the league database for answers.

"Do you think it would be faster if we brought M'gann or J'onn in and let them search her for memories of her reconditionnement?" I ask him. Batman seem to be weighing the options in his mind.

"It could be our only option." He finally stops typing. "I'll contact Martian Manhunter first, he has more experience with her." Batman states. I nod and Batman stands up and walks away from the computer. I lean on the wall and take a breath. I could get her back. I could get _her_ back. That short but lean girl with her perfect tan and jet black curls running down the length of her back. The one who's sapphire blue eyes catch the light ever so perfectly and crinkle at the corners when she smiles. I could get back the girl who's laugh is contagious and light. The girl that knows when to be funny and when to be serious and loves taking the occasional opportunity to rebel. I could get my Ariella back, and I won't let go. But then the excitement slowly slips from me. I don't want to get my hopes up if they're only going to be dashed by the impossibility of fixing her, the incapability of putting her back together again. I look at the Bat and see him coming back.

"Did J'onn say he could do it?" I ask him. He nods slightly.

"He said he would try, and that is the only answer we need." Batman breathes. "He's doing his job in Chicago and when he takes care of everything, he'll contact me and we will proceed to meet him at Arkham. Until then, I suggest you get home and relax. I'll contact you when you should get to Arkham." And with that, the caped crusader sends me off. I zeta to Watchtower and decide to see if any of the freshman are training. I find Bart and Jaime participating in a sad attempt of hand to hand combat. When I see Jaime on his back once again, I decide to step in.

"I don't want any help, hermano. I can take him." He snaps at me as he continues to try sparring with Bart, but he is too fast for Jaime to land a hit on him.

"Jaime, you're not going to get very far without a defensive stance. He's going to keep coming at you if you aren't going to defend yourself." I inform him as he hits the ground for the upteenth time. I show him a quick example and he manages to go longer and wait for the gaps in Bart's attacks. After a few more rounds, he puts the speedster down.

"Thanks." He smiles, glad that he doesn't always need the blue armor to fight.

"No problem." I continue to instruct them as the rest of the freshman show up to train and wait for a mission and or patrol with their mentors. The rest of the day is slow but filled with people hitting the ground and others crying out in triumph over beating their teammates. I even jump in and spar with my younger teammates. But not many can take me down, and none can keep me down for long. I'm almost nostalgic for sparring with those on my level. I did that a lot before she disappeared. The two of us sparred nearly everyday until one of us was too tired to keep going. At about ten p.m., when I am one of the select few left, my comm beeps in my ear.

"Superboy." I answer, hoping it's Batman.

"Zeta to Gotham, I'm at the Zeta-tube and Martian Manhunter is arriving soon." He says. I register his words and the comm clicks off. I make my way to the zeta tube and when I appear in Gotham, I stand before the Batmobile. Batman is just sitting in the driver's seat, staring at me. So, I do the logical thin and climb in. We wait for a moment until Martian Manhunter shows up and density shifts through the side of the car to sit with us. We drive the whole way to Arkham Asylum, but when we get there, the alarms go off all of the sudden and I see a streak of glittering silver shooting out of the front doors. We rush out of the Batmobile and run into the building to see what is going on and to check on Ariella. I practically burst through every door until I get to her cell. The door is closed and the inside is dark. I wait for a guard to open the door and I go inside. There is nothing in here but an inhibitor collar on the floor with wires and the power cells ripped out. I punch the wall and shout in a fit of rage. Batman and Martian Manhunter enter the cell and see the deactivated collar.

"We have to find her again." I look Batman dead in the eyes with a serious expression. "W cannot lose her again." I demand. The Bat just walks out and we follow him. We follow him to the security office to watch the security cameras. We watch the same thing over and over again. Ari's cell being near pitch black inside until the room is illuminated by the electric shocks from the collar. She just maintains her composure and takes apart her collar and strategically removing the power cells until the electric current ceases and the three red lights on the inhibitor collar go out. We hear the sound of her collar dropping to the floor. The next time she appears, she is in diamond form and crashing through the front doors, flying off into the night. _So that's what I saw_. I think to myself. I saw her flying away and I didn't think to go after her.

"She was heading Northwest. I bet she went to Chicago." Batman concludes.

"Then we must go." Martian Manhunter states blankly and we rush back to the car and speed to the nearest zetatube. When we make it to Chicago and make a break for the Trump tower, Martian Manhunter pauses to scan for her mind.

"Is she in there?" I ask urgently.

"Ye-" He begins. "She is gone. She vanished." He sighs and looks at the ground in disappointment. Batman has a near silent groan but I hear it.

"We are back to square one." Batman breathes as we all make our way back to the zeta tube. But I am determined to find her. I will not lose her again.

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Miami**

**November 1, 2016**

When I come out of the boom tube, I am met with the smell of the ocean. My feet are in the sand and the sound of waves crashing fill my earth. I turn around and see Lex Luthor and Klarion on the outside of a modest beach house. The excitement fills my chest when I realize I'm going to be living on the beach.

"Welcome home." Klarion calls from the steps of the back patio. I walk up to them, the gentle sea breeze blowing through my hair.

"What's with the change in scenery?" I ask with a half smile on my face and I stand before them.

"Queen Bee's idea. She said we need to _cater to the girl's needs_. No one disagreed so here you are." Luthor informs me and gestures for the back door. "I believe we should get you inside and let you change out of the prison orange." He reminds me. I look down and grimace at the garb. I follow them inside and take in the scenery. The whole place is open. The kitchen with white countertops and pale yellow walls, the living room with a light blue and large windows overlooking the ocean. All of the furniture is white but slightly worn to give it a relaxed, rustic look.

"So where is my bedroom?" I ask. Klarion gives a smile that makes that hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Upstairs, last door." He says. I nod slightly and go up by myself. There is no way that I am going to let the little creep in my bedroom. When I enter the room, the bed is low to the ground and right by the window. The walls are a light grey with white accenting. The window cuts into the wall with cushions and a little bookshelf underneath with brand new copies of the ones I had back home. Weird. I look to the vanity and see the the makeup and jewelry. _They really spoil me_. I think to myself with a grin plastered on my face. I open the door to the closet and enter the little room. I don't want to waste time admiring the clothes, so I grab the first things I see and head into the bathroom. When I emerge, my hair's wet, my skin's clean, and I'm wearing faded jean shorts and a light green tank top. I take in the smell of the ocean and head back downstairs to Luthor and Klarion.

"So, what's the game plan? They know I'm alive." I look at Luthor. I don't really want an answer from Klarion.

"Well, you will have to sit tight until the Light figures that out. There is still some debate about altering the path to the endpoint. The goal is still the same, but how we go about reaching that goal is going to have to change." He tells me. I sit down on the sofa.

"Alright, I'm alright with that." I nod. Klarion sit's down right next to me.

"And until then, I get to hang around here every now and again to make sure no one finds you." He smiles as I notice Teekl jump onto his lap. I groan.

"Can't someone else do it? I would rather be stuck with that pervert Tommy Terror." I glare at Luthor.

"Everyone has their role to play. Klarion was the obvious and suitable choice." Luthor grumbles. He must not have had a say in the matter. The others must have overruled him or something.

"Fine, whatever." I get up and head into the kitchen, beginning to make a sandwich from the things in the fridge and the pantry.

"Then I guess this is where I leave you. I'll be in contact." Luthor says and he walks out of the house. It's just me alone with Klarion. I give him a glare and take my food up to my room, locking the door behind me.


	22. Chapter 22

**Ariella Wayne**

**Miami**

**November 3, 2016**

The morning sea breeze fights against me as I run the strip of land where the water meets sand. My bare feet mold the wet sand as my weight presses me into the ground. When I finally stop, I've barely broken a sweat. I lay in the sand with the want lapping my legs and the morning sunrise creeping across my body in a warm bath of light. I hear someone approach me from the direction of the house.

"Time to get cleaned up, Luthor is arriving in an hour with your new assignment." Klarion informs. I look up at the Lord of Chaos. In his form of a pale little witch boy, he looks out of place in this peaceful scenery. I stand up and walk away, an epiphany crossing my mind. I whip around and see Klarion looking at me in such away that makes my stomach churn.

"You're walking in front of me, _now._" I snap at him. He gets a slight look of disappointment and passes me. He make sure his eyes are front until I get to the stairs and head to my bathroom. I grab fresh clothes from the closet and head to the bathroom. When I emerge all fresh and clean, my wet mop of hair is pulled back into a french braid and I'm in a light blue romper. By the time I get downstairs to the kitchen, I can hear someone coming through the front door. They enter the kitchen as I grab a water from the refrigerator.

"It has been decided that we will continue as planned with another route of mental distractions for the heroes." Luthor tells me as I lean against the counter. The light creeps in through the window, illuminating his immaculate bald head. "In precisely twenty two minutes, the league will be near the end of their battle with Ivo's Amazo Mach II in Star City. When they take it down, it will trigger the smoke. When it fills the block and engulf the heroes in a matter of seconds, you will be ready to drop in and attack. They won't be expecting it nor will they be expecting you to have your ferocity. The light wants you to make your debut as Black Diamond." He informs. I nod in understanding.

"Anything else?" I ask out of sheer habit.

"No, it's just a debut since they know you're alive. When you're done, come back here and relax. At ten p.m Central time, you will be in Gotham with the Joker and Harley." He tells me. I smile in excitement. I've been missing my clowns.

"Yes, sir. I'll suit up and come with you to Star City." I tell him. He looks at me in understanding and I head upstairs. I slip off the romper and pull on my Black Diamond uniform, zipping it all the way up to my neck. I go to the vanity and line my eyes with heavy black liner and coat my lips with dark purple lipstick. I make sure my french braid is still secure, then pull on my boots and run downstairs.

"Ready to go?" He asks. I shake my head. I go into the pantry and grab a peanut butter pretzel protein bar and get to the front door.

"Now I'm ready." I say as I start the bar. Luthor nods and he pulls out the father box, careful to not be too close to the objects in the house. When we slip through, I find myself in a building high above the ground. Luthor looks at me.

"When you are done, fly to the roof of this building to retrieve and use the father box hidden in a fake cement block. I'll see you tomorrow when I come to the house to give you your next mission." He says just before he disappears through another boom tube. I slowly make my way to the window of the empty apartment and look down upon the ground. The new Amazo kicking some ass, but also getting beaten by the volley of the league. It's sad really. Right on time, Amazo goes down and Superman and Captain Marvel rip the robot apart. The chest expands and the smoke explodes in every direction. I take that as my cue and go diamond. I burst through the window and take my place, standing on Amazo's chest. When the smoke is cleared by red tornado, they all see me standing in my place.

"Ari?" Black Canary asks, coming close to me. I keep a blank expression. "Are you alright?" She asks, reaching out her hand. All on a confusing impulse, a flash of anger rolls across my face.

"Canary! No!" I hear Green Arrow shout, but it's too late. Before I even realize it, I feel my muscles contract. My fist connects with Canary's head and she crumples to the ground with a chilling _crack_. The rest of the present leaguers spring into action. Superman and Captain Marvel come together to try to restrain me but I dodge the both of them and trap them in separate fields. For some reason I can multitask with an alarming accuracy. I'm keeping the heavy hitters trapped and I block attacks from Wonder Woman, even giving Icon a nice roundhouse kick to the temple. I with and angry battle cry, I fling the feilding into the ground and take out Wonder Woman. It's weird fighting my mother outside of training, but she is a worthy adversary. She scrambles up from the ground and begins her attempt of dictating the terms of our combat, but it doesn't work. I block her hits and still manage to fling the field bubbles of Superman and Captain Marvel into a building and down the block, destroying nearly everything in their wake. I knee Wonder Woman in the stomach and bring my elbow down on her shoulder, causing a _crack_ that amuses me. The amazon grits her teeth in pain and tries to sweep my legs, but I phase and proceed to kick her side. The amount of force launches her a few feet. I release the field and go mano a mano with the strongest three left. Green Arrow has retreated to contact help by now, but I continue to engage in combat with Icon, Captain Marvel, and Superman. Captain Marvel throws a punch but I meet it with my own twice as fast. The sound is near deafening and the Captain clutches his hand in aggravation and painful irritation. Superman goes to restrain me but I drop. One hand on the ground holding me up, my legs propelling forward as my body twists. My feet connect with the Kryptonian's stomach and knocks the wind out of him. But he is resilient. Icon and Superman attack together but I phase and they end up attacking themselves.

"Why are you attacking us? We can help you!" Superman says forcefully. Almost like an angry plea. For some reason, my mind flashes blank and the words roll out as a whisper.

"I don't know." The whisper is so low, but I know Superman heard it. My body reacts before my mind does. I turn invisible and fly up to the roof of the building amongst Superman's confusion. Before I even realize it, I'm grabbing the father box and going through a boom tube. As soon as I smell the ocean air, I forget about my confusion and enter the house. I get changed into sweats and just eat, contemplating what I want to do in Gotham with the Joker. I hear a little shimmer and a cat meowing.

"Hello, Ariella." It's Klarion with Teekl. I feel discomfort. "You know, you're a whole new person, maybe we should find you a new name too." He says. I get a bad taste in my mouth.

"No, my name is my name. I'm not changing it." I snap at him. He just puts his hands up is defeat and sits down next to me.

"How was fighting the league?" He asks expectantly, his hand moving closer to mine.

"It was fine, just cut slightly short." I quietly trail off. It seems Klarion didn't really care what my answer. All of the sudden, his cold hand meet my warm one. Chills run through my body. I grit my teeth and try to keep it together as to not attack one of my superiors. His hand trails my arm, causing the skin to react with goosebumps. He releases a little triumphant chuckle.

"You know you like it, and the offer still stands." He slowly morphs into an older version of himself. I cringe internally, removing his hand from my shoulder and slide away with disgust.

"I'd no sooner do it with Atomic Skull." I snap at him. He gives me a look of anger.

"You are meant to do what the Light sees fit. I am a leader of the Light, you will do as I see fit." He says in a tone that washes over my body. All of the sudden, I no longer have control over my actions. My body flings itself at the older Klarion and kisses him. I'm screaming in my mind, trying to make myself pull away but my body won't respond. His mouth tasting like acid, mine even burns. For some horrible reason, my nose fills with the scent of formaldehyde. When his hand touches the small of my back, my body jerks.

"No!" I finally manage to rip myself away. "I will _not!_" I scream at the witch boy. He looks angry and tries to hit me, but I go diamond and allow his hand to make a satisfying crunching sound.

"You little-" He begins in a seething rage but I grab him by the neck and throw him onto the table.

"No. You will not touch me, you will not flirt with me. If you do, I will rip you apart, again and again until there is nothing left but your sad, egotistical personality." I growl in his ears, annunciating every consonant. For once, I'm striking fear into a Lord of Chaos. Teekl hisses, so I let go of Klarion by pushing him off the table. He just looks at me with glassy eyes.

"You'll come around sooner or later, and I'll be here when you do." He picks up his familiar.

"Get the hell out of my house, Witchboy." I order the Lord of Chaos. He just glares at me with his glassy black eyes and steps through one of his portals. With the silence in the house, I begin to forget that Klarion was controlling me. I hard as I try to hold onto it, it slips from my memory. Now I'm just bored and alone, so I go through the house in search of something entertaining. I find a video game and just play for a few hours. When the clock strikes ten p.m. here, I go upstairs and pull on the Black Diamond suit and boots. I apply my makeup and find the boom tube. I check the mirror, making sure my braid is still immaculate from earlier. Not even a single curly tendril is loose. I find a clear space and get ready to go.

"Father box, take me to Joker." I tell the living computer. The floor opens below me and I land in an alley. The Joker is being pinned against the wall by some lowlife gangbanger.

"Hey, sweety. Mind giving me a hand?" He gives me a look that gets me excited. I stride right up to the gang member and tap his shoulder.

"Look, lad-" He tries tries to tell me to leave but when he get's a good look at me, he get's nervous. I grab the back of his neck and rip him off Joker.

"Why were you trying to bother Mr. Jay?" I ask him with a pouty face and a condescending tone. He quite literally begins shaking. This big baby is crackin me up.

"He owes my boss money! I'm just doing my job!" He squeals like a pig. I look at Joker.

"Has anyone died from doing your job?" Joker asks. I know what he wants me to do. I tighten my grip on the lowlife.

"Yes! But I have a family! Please!" He begs and squirms. I can't help but laugh at him as the little harmless criminal that he is. I pull him close and lean into his ear.

"We'll make sure to pay them a visit then." I whisper seductively. When I hold him out again, I look straight into his eyes. I notice the fear and nervousness in his muddy brown irises. When my hand snaps left, all of that emotion in his eyes drift away. _Thirty nine_. A voice whispers in the back of my mind. I look at Joker expectantly.

"He worked for Black Mask." He comes and embraces me. I nuzzle my head into his shoulder and take in the scent of his purple shirt, the rustic scent of blood and funnel cakes.

"Should we pay him a visit?" I ask in anticipation.

"No, tonight is just a night of mischief and fun. Let's enjoy it." He puts his arm around me as we walk the length of the alley way. "Maybe we'll go see the bastard tomorrow night." He says with a promising tone. We emerge from the alley and realize we are in the diamond district. A sickly sweet smile stretches across my face, my stomach fluttering in amusement. I look at the Joker for approval and he just nods with a simple smirk. With that, I run ahead, like a wild dog let loose on their prey.


	23. Chapter 23

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Miami**

**November 23, 2016**

Torturing Black Mask was an interesting experience. I broke quite few of his bone. Mainly in his hands but I did get his femur and a rib or two. I weaseled more money and drugs out of him for Mr. Jay. Even got Black Mask's word that he would stop sending his men to harass and collect from Joker. The past few weeks have been filled with jobs ending with me killing our incompetent accomplices and or maiming them just enough to put them in the hospital for a week. But now that it's all said and done, it fills my dreams. Everything blending together, the monster working to get a scream out of the Black Mask, the clown breaking me. The number 53 branded into every subconscious thought. All of it a blur of pain and fear, taking over my dreams and turning them to nightmares. The worst part about it, I forget each morning. But when I climb back into bed and close my eyes the next night, it all floods back like an ocean of misery breaking the levees of my subconscious. Each night, I wake up screaming and crying, curled up in a ball. I remember long enough the next morning to write it down in a notebook under my mattress that I keep. Every time I wake up, I remember it's there. I just jot down that the horrifying nightmares happened again and slip the notebook and pen back under the bed before I forget. But this time when I wake up, I don't know where I got the phone. I don't even remember dialing. When the line picks up, I don't even know who is going to be on the other end.

"Hello?" A groggy, husky voice answers the phone. I know who this is.

"Daddy?" I ask expectantly, hoping that it's him and he might be coming to save me. I notice I'm breathing heavily, each breath shaking.

"Ari? Where are you?" My dad asks from the other end of the phone.

"Dad, you need to help me! Please!" I scream into the receiver.

"Calm down. Can you tell me where you are?" He tries to keep me calm. I try to get the words out.

"I-I can't r-remember. It's warm." I get up and look outside. "I'm looking at an ocean. The color says I-I'm on the Atlantic Coast. Please come get me." I whisper into the phone. All of the sudden my mind is running blank.

"I will find you, okay? I'll get Connor and we'll come get you." He tries to reassure me, but there is almost nothing left that needs to be reassured. My mind empties and my body relaxes. The phone drops from my hand and hits the floor with a little clatter. "Hello?" A little voice says from the phone, but I just walk away. I find myself downstairs in the kitchen, pouring batter into waffle iron. When I sit down and start pouring syrup, someone enters the house. I look up to see Luthor.

"You look like you need more sleep." He says as he gives me a once over.

"Thanks. That's what every girl wants to hear." I speak as sarcastically as I can. The bald business man just chuckles lightly.

"You up for going to Santa Prisca? There is a buy going down tomorrow and there needs to be some preparation and oversight." He sits down across from me as I eat my waffles.

"Job is a job. When?" I push the food around the plate in random uneasiness.

"Tomorrow. Get there mid day and stay till the buy is done." He informs. I nod and keep eating. He pulls up his holo computer on his phone and begins showing me files. I scan the pictures and go through the files.

"So you want me to oversee a buy of venom from Bane to Cadmus?" I look at him with impression.

"Cadmus is going to use their superior technology to enhance the venom. More power per cubic centimeter of muscle, less added muscle mass to the subject. But, the light can't just take from Bane. I'm buying it from him with Cadmus's budget, Since I am the chairman of the board." He tells me.

"The venom will make it possible to create some great sleeper agents." I comment as I read through the files and formula plans and adjustments.

"Precisely. We are also planning to keep them from going through major physical changes." He tells me with triumphant look.

"Alright, well just call me and I'll be there on time tomorrow." I tell him as I stand up from my seat and take my empty plate and silverware and put them into the sink.

"Good." Luthor stands up to leave. "Before I go, is there anything you need?" He asks.

"Nothing, I'm fine for now." I say as I continue doing the dishes. He's silent as he leaves. When I'm done with the dishes, I decide to get into the cleaning mood. I blast music through the house and begin cleaning. Mopping the floors, wiping down surfaces. When I get up to my room, I grab all of the dirty clothes and piling them up in a basket to do laundry. When I pull the sheets off my bed, the mattress comes up a bit and I see something underneath. I pull up the mattress and look underneath to see a purple notebook. I grab it and sit on the bed. Page after page, everything floods through my mind. My breathing and heart rate pick up and I can't handle it. I look out of the corner of my eye and see the phone that dropped this morning. I grab it and call my dad.

"Ari?" He answers, I notice tears streaming down my face. The words begin to come out like vomit.

"There was a notebook under my bed. The whole thing is of awful nightmares and it's all written in my handwriting. I remember, da-" I'm cut of by someone grabbing my shoulder and turning me around.

"Ari? What's happening?" I hear my dad say as I begin to panic.

"Now, now. You don't want to do that." Klarion says to me. My body falls into instinct. I drop the phone and go diamond.

"Get out of my house!" I scream as kick him into the wall. He tries to cast magic but I pin his hands and kick my leg up to push on his jaw to keep it shut. I hear Teekl behind me, meowing at his master. I throw Klarion and fly at the cat, trying to send the Lord of Chaos back to the mystical plane. But that is my mistake.

"Pord eht tac dna ezeerf ni ecalp!" He shouts and my body goes limp. Teekl scrambles to Klarion and a red bubble traps me. I beat my fists into the wall of red, but I can't get out. He walks right up to the bubble and looks me dead in the eye. "Sleep." He whispers and everything goes black. When my eyes finally open, I'm surrounded by black. My arms are above my head and my feet barely touch the ground. I'm suspended. I try to look down but my my chin is stopped by something thick around my neck. I try to break free but all I do is irritate the skin on my wrists. The lights all turn on and realize I'm in a warehouse. The thing in front of me is a video camera on a tripod.

"I see that you are awake." Luthor says as he emerges from the shadows. With him comes the Joker, Ra's al Ghul, Queen Bee, The Brain, and Klarion.

"The plan has changed now that you are no longer obedient." Ra's al Ghul glares at me. I just dangle in the chains.

"So, what now?" I ask.

"That inhibitor collar is keeping you from escaping." Queen Bee informs me.

"Great, but what are you going to do with me?" I ask but it is answered all to subtly by the joker who unloads a bag of tools onto a table to my left. "Really? Haven't you done enough?" I laugh at them.

"No. We haven't." Klarion snaps at me. There is a little click and the red light on the camera turns on. The camera is rolling. I look away in embarrassment. The Joker stands right in front of the camera.

"Hello, Watchtower. This broadcast is brought to you by the _Light_. Today's screening is featuring your ex teammate, Ariella." He steps away from the camera to present me in all my glory. "I'll give you a few minutes to get everyone in front of one screen, so it won't get too gory just yet." He says as he steps to the table and picks up a knife. He cut off the bottom half of my shirt and runs the cool blade across my stomach. The warm blood oozes out but I just glare at the Joker. He keeps cutting deeper on different parts of my torso until I'm breathing heavily.

"You're going to have to do better than that." I spit at him with every word He just smiles and turns on a little box, sticking the blade of the knife in for a few minutes. When it comes out it's red hot. The clown comes close with it and my body jerks away, trying to avoid the heat. I fail and the burning metal pierces my skin. I don't even feel it, just an immense, freezing pain. This is when I begin to scream at the top of my lungs. He make burning cut after cut until I am a bloody mess. The minute he finally stops, I thrash a bit to rattle the chains.

"Is that all you got!?" I yell at him. But I know there's more.

"You know me well enough to know there is always something next." He laughs. His stark white hands stick little wires to different points of my body. Some on my head, some one my shoulders, even a few on my back and arms. I watch as he flips a switch, sending a current through me.

"You trained me to like this, how is this torture?" I laugh at him, but he turns a dial and it increases until I'm shaking. Joker just looks at me as he turns the dial more. I struggle against the convulsions, squealing through my teeth. After a few minutes, I pass out. When my eyes open, the Joker is snapping his fingers in my face.

"Wakey, wakey. It's time to continue the show." He grips my face in his hand and checks my eyes to make sure I'm focused. "Alright boys and girls, time for some fun!" He grabs something and hides it behind his back. I struggle and try to escape but it's still no use. He grabs my hair and throws it over my shoulder so he has a complete view of my back. I hear a little noise and the pain ensues. The burning and boiling of my skin is past tolerable. I cry out in pain. Why I stop shouting, the pain stops.

"Just _stop_." I get out in between hyperventilation. The Joker just laughs.

"You hear that, heroes?" He faces the camera as he picks up a sledge hammer. "She wants me to stop." He laughs and and hits my right thigh as hard as he can. There were two different sounds upon impact, a loud _crack_ and a pained scream. A single tear escapes as I bite back the increasing pain. He just laughs. "Come on, Ari!" He brings the hammer down upon my shoulder. This time my collar bone protrudes from my skin. "Cry out for mercy!" He smacks the hammer into my right shin. This crack comes with a noticeable new curve in my lower leg. My screaming is strained.

"Stop! _Please!_" I scream at the top of my lungs and he gets ready to swing again. He stops and grins.

"Did you hear that?" He strokes my cheek. "Time to let her go." He picks up a knife from the table. "Let's see how fast you get here. Wayne Enterprises warehouse in Gotham." As soon as he finishes speaking, he jams the knife into my stomach and runs. All I can do, is bite back the pain and look into the camera lense, hoping they might actually come. When I can barely hold on anymore, there is a blur of red and yellow. I fall out of the chains and feel the pain of a speedster holding me tightly. Everything fades to black.


	24. Chapter 24

**Connor Kent's pov**

**Gotham General**

**November 24, 2016**

It was hard, watching them break her. I had imagined it when they told me what had happened when she was little, but that was nothing compared to actually seeing it. But, it's damn near impossible to watch her like this. She just got back from surgery, tube down her throat once again. They had to put screws in her shoulder and put her bones back in the right places, pins keeping them from moving. Her entire right leg in a cast and secured in place on the bed. Her arm is held in place by a brace and sling so she doesn't move her shoulder, which is wrapped in thick ace bandages. Most of her torso is bandaged due to third degree burns and extreme lacerations. The only thing I have to keep hope is the steady heartbeat coming from her chest, slowly getting stronger.

**November 29, 2016**

The nurses are checking her stats as she sleeps. I'm watching her stir. I've been desperate for her to wake up, and now it just might be happening. Her electric blue eyes slowly blink open and scan the room lazily. When they find me, the corners of her mouth curl up into a smile. The nurses quickly shine a light in her eyes to check her pupil dilation before she slips back under. I sit at the edge of her bed and just hold her hand like it's all I'm meant to do.

**December 1, 2016**

She's woken up a few times here and there, but never fully aware. The meds they keep her on keep her delirious. Sure, it keeps everything light hearted, but I need to know that I really have her back. Tonight, when she opens her eyes, she looks right at me and speaks.

"Hi, Connor." She whispers, smiling and keeping her eyes open for the first time.

"Hi, Ari." I tell her, taking her hand in mine. Her smile fades and her eyes run blank. I feel the confused look grow across my face.

"Fifty Three people, Connor." She speaks in a low, shaky voice. I know exactly what she is talking about. Her eyes begin to water.

"Hey, don't cry." I hold her face in my hands. "It wasn't you, okay? It wasn't you." I kiss her forehead and sit with her, holding her hand as she cries.

**December 5, 2016**

**Wayne Manor**

It's her first day home and I just got back from a mission with the team. When I emerge from the secret entrance of the Batcave into the house, I know they are making their best efforts to make her happy. The scent of Dick and Barbara's waffles flows through the air. When I make it to the kitchen, the two are in there making the waffles, but I don't see Bruce, Tim or Ari. My next guess of location leads me to find her in the livingroom. She is sprawled out on the sofa with an ice bag on her shoulder and her leg propped up on a few pillows. Her curly mess of hair is pulled back into a braid that was no doubt done by Barbara. The tv is on before her. The nostalgia washing over me as I realize it's Animal Planet.

"You made it!" She smiles at me.

"I told you I'd be here." I tell her as I sit on the sofa by her feet.

"You gonna stay a while?" She asks me and I nod.

"I'll stay for as long as you want and your dad permits." tell her as Dick comes in with a tray. when he set's it on Ari's lap, she digs into the waffles and I just relax with her, watching animal planet and eating waffles with her.

**December 10th**

It's three a.m and Bruce has called me to come stay at the house. When I get there, I'm in my pajamas with a duffle over my shoulder. When Bruce meets me at the entrance to the Batcave in the study, his face says it all.

"Rough night again?" I ask him, he sighs deeply.

"It's the fifth time in a row that she has woken up. Usually it's from discomfort, but she's also having trouble handling the memories. As much as I hate to say it, she need's you more than me. Try anything, and I'll personally plan your funeral." He tells me. I nod and go upstairs. When I enter her room, I find her sitting up in her bed, the moonlight shining through the window across her face. I drop my bag on the floor and climb into bed with her. First I just sit with her, but she yawns.

"I think it's time we go to sleep." I put my hand on her back.

"Okay." She whispers. I let her lay down to get comfortable and lay next to her on her left side. I put one arm across her body and keep a light hold on her. I make sure she falls asleep before I do. Her heartbeat slows and I let myself fall asleep with her in my arms. When I wake up, it's ten a.m. and she is still asleep. I just lay there and watch her sleep. Maybe around eleven she begins to stir. She sighs.

"Good morning." I whisper to her.

"I need pain killers." she grumbles. I slowly get off the bed so as not to make her uncomfortable and grab her a normal dose and hand it to her. She swallows them dry and sits up.

"Better?" I ask after a few minutes. She nods. I hear her stomach grumble so I get up with her. She hovers off the bed and I carry her cast. We're like this until we get downstairs to her wheelchair. As much as she hates the thing, she needs it as a fundamental part of her recovery. I wheel her into the kitchen and put her at the head of the table.

"Help yourself to the food." She tells me as I go to look for food for her.

"Alright, but what do you want for breakfast?" I ask her as I open up the fridge.

"I'll have whatever you're making and some orange juice." Ari sighs. I look over at her as I pull out the eggs. She's let her head lean off the back of the chair, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. She's thinking about it again.

"What do you want to do today?" I ask her as I crack a few eggs into a frying pan, trying to distract her.

"There isn't much I can do." She sighs, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"I could take you to the Aquarium." I offer as I sprinkle cheese into the eggs I'm scrambling.

"Not today. Maybe some other day." She tells me before falling silent, the only sound in the kitchen is the frying of the eggs.

**December 25, 2016**

It's Christmas day and Ari has a smile on her face that I haven't seen in a long time. Probably from the fact that she got the top half of her cast off. The doctors deemed her femur strong enough to bare weight, so now she's walking around but with a boot up to her knee. She may still be in the sling but she's just happy to be moving around. She has weekly meets with Martian Manhunter and does supervised shifts at the Watchtower during missions, manning the computer and coordinating missions. Today, we are all at her house celebrating Christmas. Cassie and Tim and sitting by the fire, playing poker. Bruce and Diana are in sitting by the window, just talking. Dick and Barbara are in the kitchen decorating cookies. I'm sitting in an armchair with Ari sitting across my lap, sharing her ice cream with me every few bites. The red santa hat on her head keeping her curly black hair out of her eyes. The television before us is playing Elf.

"So, do you want to go to the Christmas party at the Watchtower?" She asks me. "Both the League and the Team are invited." She looks at me expectantly.

"Sure, it'd be fun." I tell her. "When should we go?"

"Well it's six now and it starts in half an hour so I say we go at seven." She nestles her head into my shoulder.

"Alright then." I tell her, she smiles and finishes her ice cream.

"I'm going to the kitchen, want me to snag a cookie for you?" Ari asks as she stands up.

"I can get it, let me take your bowl to the kitchen." I stand up and offer, but she just gives me a look like that is just the most absurd thing.

"I'm fine going to the kitchen, Connor." She promises as she walks away, her boot thumping slightly with each step. I sit back down and let out a sigh. I hear Cassie giggling and Tim throwing cards at her in frustration. I look over and see Diana and Bruce getting closer together in the window. My super hearing catches a painful groan coming from the kitchen. I get up and run to see if Ari is okay and when I get there, she is on the ground surrounded by some un decorated cookies.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Dick asks as he helps her up, she slaps him with her good arm.

"Connor, could you get me some of my pain meds?" She asks as she sits in a chair at the table.

"Yeah, just give me a second." I go up to her room and return with her little pill canister. She takes one or two and sits until it takes effect. "Better?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm good." She stands up and we walk back to the living room. For the next forty five minutes, it's just us watching Elf until Ari decides she needs to put on a different shirt since there is cookie stuff all over the one she's wearing now. I go up with her and sit at her desk as she picks a red long sleeve. I help her take off her sling and change shirts without causing irritation. Once she's all set with her shirt and santa hat on straight, the two of us head down to the others.

"We're going to the party now if you guys want to come with." I tell her parents. Tim and Cassie stand up.

"We'll come with you. Dick? Babs? You coming with?" Tim calls into the kitchen.

"Yeah! We'll be out in a second, gotta box up the cookies, they're coming with us." Barbara calls from the kitchen.

"We'll be dropping by later, this is more of an event for the team and younger members of the League." Bruce tells us. Ari nods. Barbara and Dick come out with a box each, the smell of fresh cookies following them.

"See you later, then." Ari says to her father. We all go down to the Batcave and zeta to Watchtower. When we materialize, the music fills my ears. All of it remixed Christmas music. M'gann greets us with Zatanna and Rocket.

"Merry Christmas!" Zatanna hugs Ari lightly.

"Merry Christmas, Zee." Ari smiles. I look around and see some of the heroes behave standoffish. They stare at Ariella with distrust, but the originals of the Team know that she is the most trustworthy person here. She could have betrayed us at anytime and she hasn't. We continue on through the party until everyone is bored of just talking. Everything changes when Artemis and Wally finally decide to show up.

"Alright, it's a party and no one has even brought up party games." Wally comments as he walks in. He, Dick, and Aqualad greet each other. After a few minutes of their talking, they turn around.

"Gather 'round, boys and girls." Dick calls out to everyone in the room.

"We have come to the ever exciting conclusion that all of us as a collective group, will be playing… drum roll please." Wally looks at Dick, he pats his legs like a drum. "It is time for a lovely game of dare, the comedic edition." Smiles spread like wildfire.

we all get together, sitting in a circle, Ari leaning of me so she can stay comfortable. M'gann levitates a bottle into the center on our circle.

"Alright, the darers will start with me and run clockwise through the circle. The bottle will choose who gets dared." Dick speaks. "M'gann, if you would be so kind." He looks at the her with a clear request. She smiles and her eyes glow green, the bottle spins. When it stops, it points toward Tim.

"Let's get started." Tim's look of confidence is nearly adorable.

"Alright, Robin. I dare you to put on a blindfold and slow dance with another player on my choosing. You have to guess who it is by touch alone." He commands his little brother. Tim sighs and he stands up. M'gann morphes her Santa hat into a blindfold and ties around his head. I can't help but snicker a little bit when Dick points at Zatanna. She get's up and struggles to keep down her laugh. She dances with him as he randomly touches her hair and face.

"Come on, baby bro. You can do it!" Ariella taunts, some other's snicker.

"Is it... Artemis?" He asks, she snickers.

"Dude, I'm half Vietnamese. You'd think you'd know if it was me or not." She laughs as she leans back into Wally's lap.

"It's thick curly hair and my sister doesn't have to arms to dance… Zatanna?" He guesses. We cheer for him and Zatanna laughs as she removes his blindfold and tosses it back to M'gann. He sits back down next to cassie, his face red. The game continues on with ice cubes and wonderful embarrassment. It soon becomes Ari's turn to dare someone. The bottle spins and it lands on Bart. I look at his face and see the worry.

"Alright, Bart, let me think…" Ariella goes into the thinker position.

"Oh, god." I hear the little speedster whisper to himself. He's right to be worried. Ari can be quite creative when it comes to games like these.

"I'll go easy on you." She smiles. "You have to begin everything you say with the phrase, 'your mom says' and finish every sentence with, 'in bed' for the rest of the night." She tells him. He gives her a face of hysterics. When his mouth opens, everyone just bursts out laughing.

"Your mom says, challenged accepted, in bed." He raises an eyebrow and no one can help but laugh till their sides hurt.


	25. Chapter 25

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Wayne Manor**

**December 31, 2016**

I'm sitting in my room with the girls bustling about. They told me they wanted to take me out with the guys for New Year's Eve, but I'll honestly be a drag to them. My boot doesn't come off for another three weeks and I'm still wearing the sling. Sure, I'm doing physical therapy but I don't get out of the sling till next week. But, here I am being a canvas for them. Zatanna doing my makeup, Artemis picking out the outfit, and M'gann doing my hair as Karen gets ready in my bathroom.

"Tell me when the two of you are done so we can get her into her clothes." Artemis says as she sets a pair of pants and a brightly colored top on my bed.

"Just a sec." M'gann says as she runs the straightener over the last curl. "There." M'gann smiles triumphantly.

"One last thing." Zatanna pulls out a tube of lipstick. When she finishes, they let me get up and help me change into the outfit Artemis laid out. They finally let me see myself in the mirror and I am shocked. Every kink and curl has been ironed out, leaving my black hair so long that I could probably sit on it. My makeup is interesting actually. Cat eyeliner and purple lipstick is quite fun. The white jeans and tight, neon pink top accentuate my curves, regardless of the black boot and sling.

"Alright, just put on your shoe and let's get this show on the road.

"Damn, I really can't get out of this can I?" I ask them as I pull on my single black high topped chuck. I grab my fake I.D and stick it in my back pocket with my phone.

"Nope." Karen says, popping the _p_. The girls giggle and we all go downstairs. When I look at Connor, he's watching me enter the living room where all the boys had to wait.

"You look-" He begins to say but I put my hand up.

"It's a bit much, I know." I sigh, looking down in slight discomfort. But he just takes my face in his hands.

"No, you're perfect." He kisses my forehead and puts his arm around me. _I know I'm not perfect_. I think to myself.

"Are we all ready to go?" Mal asks as Karen slips herself under his arm. There is unanimous agreement to get going.

"So where are we going?" I ask the group, but no one answers. I look at all of them and see their little smirks on each and everyone of their faces. Connor is smiling like the destination is the best idea ever.

"Don't worry, you'll like it." He promises. We all walk outside and climb into the limo that I'm guessing Dick arranged for us to have. The ride over is slow but entertaining, Wally and Dick cracking jokes along with the scrutiny of Artemis and Zatanna about their apparent misogynistic opinions don't make for funny jokes. But honestly, it's just nice to see everyone together like this. When the car finally stops we all step out in front of a familiar club. It hits me.

"You came here to get me that night…" I feel my face grow hot in embarrassment.

"Yes, it sparked the beginning of our relationship, remember?" He laughs and starts walking me to the door.

"I almost threw up on your shoes." I remember the awful moment. But he just laughs. We stop in front of the bouncer.

"I.D.s?" He asks. We flash our cards and walk inside. I immediately begin glowing in the black lights. Connor's white t-shirt lights up. The group leads me to a private table and we all put out stuff down and order drinks. We take pictures and joke around with the music pulsing through our bodies. Soon, people go to dance and it's just me and Connor at the table, taking shots of the glowing test tubes and making out. As much as I want to dance with him, with everyone, I can't but they are come back periodically to make sure I feel included. It's actually nice, getting out of the house. When it's thirty seconds till midnight, Connor and I down the last bit of out drinks and look around at our friends around the table, all participating in the roaring countdown across the club. 3… 2… 1… Connor kisses me, bringing us together into the new year. He pulls me across his lap and I sit there as we make out. I feel my heart beating out of my chest, his hands running through my hair. His gentle touch avoiding my left shoulder. I snap back to reality when there is a flash. I look over to see Artemis laughing with a camera. She snaps another picture of us, capturing the moment of Connor laughing and the very drunk me trying to make a kissy face, my eyes squinting shut. After a little bit, I notice the need to get some fresh air.

"Let's go outside for a minute." I say loudly over the music to Connor. He nods but before I can get up, he scoops me up into his arms and carries me out. I'm laughing my ass off as we stand against the wall outside.

"I really wish I could get on your level, you seem to be having so much fun." Connor gives me such an innocent smile.

"If you're referring to your super high alcohol tolerance, you're right." I lean into him, trying to suppress my giggles. We stand outside for about ten minutes before it happens. When I see them, I take it all in. Two members of the Light, one agent. The Joker in his purple suit, his green hair standing out in odd places like someone just electrocuted him. My eyes fall to Klarion, walking with Teekl at his heels and his demonic presence burning through to my very core with rage. Lex Luthor walks with the two of them, his bald head pristine and his suit freshly pressed. Connor and I stop laughing.

"Well hello, pet." Klarion looks at me like I'm nothing more than a waste of space.

"What's stopping me from taking you all down right now?" Connor asks with anger.

"Well first of all," Luthor pulls out and presses a button, opening the box to reveal a glowing green rock, "this." Connor drops in pain and weakness. I stand my ground, stepping in front of Connor. I'm sure I don't look very intimidating, my left arm out of commision and my lower left leg enclosed in a boot.

"What do you want?" I hiss through my teeth, trying to contain my burning anger. I run my hand through my hair, sneaking a tap to my communicator. This is all going directly to Watchtower.

"You didn't think you were getting away that easily?" Luthor asks. Joker steps toward me.

"Joker, if you touch him or me, I will crush your skull with one punch." I threaten, he stops in his tracks but laughs at me.

"How are you going to stop us? Klarion will just bring you down again." Luthor comments. I feel myself losing it to the rage.

"Come on, Lex. You and Klarion don't stand a chance, there are heroes inside that we came with." I tell them, saying they're names clearly for my comm to catch them. I catch a reply in my ear.

"We are sending Leaguers to your location." Red Tornado speaks in my ear.

"Will they get to you in time?" Joker asks as he jumps at me. My first instinct explodes into a force field, knocking the Joker away from Connor and I.

"You won't get to me this time." I speak with determination. I focus and trap Klarion and Joker in their own little bubbles.

"You're broken, Ariella. The heroes will never accept you, not after everything you've done." Lex Luthor laughs at me. I snap. The rage takes over and I fly at Luthor, turning my right hand diamond and punching him in the jaw. I grab the Kryptonite and close the box. The next thing I do is grab Luthor by the throat and throw him at the wall by Connor. I fly at him and grip his neck once more, sliding him up the wall until his toes can barely touch the ground. When my dad arrives with Superman and Doctor Fate, I let loose Klarion and Joker for them to handle. I put my face close to Luthor's

"I may be broken, but family accepts you no matter what. You hurt my family, and I will end you." I snap at him. I feel my dad put his hand on my shoulder.

"Let him down, Ari. We'll take it from here." He assures me. I look at him in his Batman suit and take a breath. I drop Luthor and go to Connor.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He nods.

"Not my first encounter with Kryptonite. I'll be fine." He stands up and holds me. I'm sure he notices my heavy breathing to try to calm down. "How about I take you home?" He asks. I nod and he calls a cab. We get in and head home. I pay the taxi driver and we get inside the house.

"I wanted to kill him." I whisper and Connor and I enter my room.

"But you didn't and I'm proud of you." He gives me a little kiss on the forehead and starts changing into his pajamas. I follow suit and do the same. I wash my face and sit on my bed.

"Not tired, huh?" I look at him. He smiles and shakes his head.

"Let's go finish off those holiday cookies." He decides. I smile and follow him to the kitchen. I find the leftover icing and just take a spoon to it as he eats the cookies. I get a little idea and fling a bit of icing at Connor. It sticks to his cheek.

"Oh it's on." He says as he grabs a handful of icing and starts flinging it at me. I retaliate by just covering my hands with it and smearing it on his face. He just pulls my into him and kisses me, getting icing all over my mouth. When we pull away. I take some of the icing off his cheek with my finger and lick it, trying to be dramatically seductive. We both just laugh clean ourselves up. I get the last bit off his nose and get up to go and get my unfinished tub of ice cream.

"Cookie dough and cookie…" I debate outloud. He just looks at me with amusement.

"Are you gonna do what I think you're gonna do?" He asks with a big smile plastered to his face. I nod and start dipping the cookies in the ice cream. He does the same and we sit there indulging ourselves in the sweets, trying to take our minds off of the encounter that no one expected to happen.

"Yo mama jokes, go." I tell him. He just laughs slightly and thinks of one to start with.

"Oh this one is my favorite." He composes himself to tell it. "Yo mama so fat, she has smaller fat women orbiting around her." He kand help but laugh as he speaks.

"That's good, I have one." I take another bite of cookie. "Yo mama so fat, she can't even jump to a conclusion!" I don't even make it halfway before I start laughing. Connor just puts his hand to his face and laughs like a silly little boy.

"Next one. Yo mama so fat, the back of her neck looks like a pack of hot dogs." He tells me with the straightest face he can manage. I laugh so hard that I snort, causing us to laugh even harder. I another one pops into my head.

"Yo mama so fat, she doesn't need the internet, she's already world wide." I tell him. I laugh so hard I almost fall out of my chair when I hear Alfred snicker from the next room. We continue on through the night like this until My dad returns. He finds us in the kitchen, me sitting on the counter, eating nutella out of the container and Connor across the room, catching the goldfish I throw with his mouth.

"You two are weird." Is all he can say before he walks out of the kitchen.

"Love you, Daddy!" I call after him, trying to contain myself. Connor gets up and picks me up off the counter, holding my bridal style. I nestle into him as he carries me up to my bedroom. We get into bed, Connor's arms around me.

"I love you." He whispers into the dark bedroom.

"I love you too." I say just before I fall asleep.


	26. Chapter 26 - epilogue

**Ariella Wayne's pov**

**Hall of Justice, Washington D.C.**

**July 6, 2018**

Today, I get a break from working with my dad at Wayne enterprises to go to the Hall. Today, they are publicly inducting new heroes into the League. I take my place on the steps between Nightwing and Batgirl. I look down the line to see Connor, giving him a little wave before facing the crowd. The flashes are near blinding but my domino mask helps. I'm sure I'm blinding everyone around me, my diamond skin refracting the lights from the cameras. Superman taps the microphone and begins.

"The Justice League was formed for two , as an acknowledgement that no single individual, no matter how powerful, can solve all the world's problems alone." He pauses for effect. "And second, to uphold the values of Truth, Liberty and Justice. These five heroes have sworn to uphold those values." After that, I zone out. I've heard this speech on multiple occasions, and I know I just have to stand here. Superman soon passes in front of me and hands me my League membership card. I smile to the crowd and wait for the thing to end so I can go to Watchtower with the rest of the new members and begin my career as a Justice Leaguer. All

**Wayne Enterprises, Gotham**

**March 21, 2022**

I stand in the large office, looking out the window. I survey the city before me, fighting the nervous itch in the pit of my stomach. I feel extremely uncomfortable in the tight black pencil skirt and matching blazer. At least the dark grey button down tucked into my skirt is moderately loose. What I wouldn't give to kick off the black heels I'm wearing and pull my hair out of it's ponytail, but it's unprofessional to walk around the office barefoot or look unkept. The door opens behind me.

"Just checking in. How's your first day as a board member?" I turn to see my dad enter the room.

"Weird. I've been an assistant to each and every one of my co-board members and studied you for a while now, and it's weird. I'm doing it all on my own now, managing the innovative engineering branch of Wayne Tech, organizing benefits and running the Wayne Foundation." I sigh and sit in my chair. "Even going through the stocks. It's difficult, but I'm happy to manage." I give him a smile.

"Well, I have to get back to Mr. Fox. There's some new stuff for me to check out." He gives me a kiss on the forehead and exits the office. I start working on my computer until the door opens and a a blonde peeks her head in. It's my PA.

"Yes, Morgan?" I answer. There's a little pause. I know she is afraid of me as her boss.

"T-there is a guy here to see you. Know a Connor Kent?" She asks. I contain my laughter.

"Yes, Morgan, send him in." I say in a polite tone. Connor comes in and I immediately chuck my shoes under the desk and run at him the best I can in this awful pencil skirt.

"Hey, how's your day going so far?" He asks as we pull away from each other.

"It's good. Better now that you're here." I give him a kiss. He lets me go and hangs around, talking with me as I work.

**Hawaii**

**August 10, 2023**

I stand in the sunset, the warm sand between my toes. My heart is beating out of my chest, hands fidgeting with the bouquet of white carnations and roses. The cool ocean breeze brushes my bare back. I try not to run my hand through my hair in fear of ruining it. All of my hair is intricately woven into braids, and twisted into a loose bun. The thin silver circlet running across my forehead is getting warm in sun. I'm beginning to have trouble breathing, the corset of my dress hugging chest. I look down trying to make sure my dress is still perfect. The white dress is smooth with a teal sash around my waist, the front stopping at my ankles and continuing on to trail in the sand a few inches behind me. I nearly jump out of my skin when someone touches my shoulder.

"Jeeze, you can't be Batman stealthy on a day like today." I slap his arm. He just smiles and hugs me. His tux making him look perfect. This is the point where I get really close to crying. It's not time for that just yet. I hear the music start.

"You ready?" My dad ask as he puts his arm out for me to take. I loop mine through his and hold on for dear life.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I say with a nervous laugh. We come out from my little cabana and face the guests. I look at my dad as my heart continues to race. "I'm getting married." I look at him.

"My little girl is getting married." He breathes with a smile on his face. We begin walking down the sandy aisle. I see all my friend as family, heroes and civilians alike. I'm guessing I look like a nervous wreck because a few smiles are fading. My entire body is shaking in fear. I look straight ahead to focus, my heart stops and I see him. He's standing there, in his white tux. His bowtie and vest matching the teal sash around my waist. The sea breeze flowing through his hair, and his eyes looking right at me, like her can't take them off me. My whole body relaxes, in fact, I begin to walk a little faster, pulling my dad with me. At the end of the aisle, he lets me go and I hand my bouquet to Barbara. She ended up being my maid of honor. I peak at my other three bridesmaids, Zatanna, Cassie, and Artemis. They all look happy as can be in their teal dresses. I finally face Connor and just breathe. When the vows begin, I can't stop the water works. The exchanging of the rings is easy. The priest begins to wrap it up. The 'I do's' happen and I couldn't think of anything more perfect to ever happen in this moment.

"You may kiss the bride." The priest finally says. Before I can do anything, Connor grabs me by the waist and dips me. The kiss is like sealing fate, and I don't care what happens from here. My life is perfect. When he finally stands me back up, there is a applause from the crowd of guests.

"I love you." I tell him as we walk together back down the aisle. I pulls me closer to him.

"I love you too, Mrs. Kent." He whispers into my ear. I get a shudder of joy. We walk to the shoreline and step into the surf to take our wedding photos. We get some alone and others with family and the bridesmaids and groomsmen. When it's all said and done, the reception begins. We do everything like every other wedding. When we cut the cake, Connor and I think so alike that we both smash our pieces into each other's faces. When the speeches begin, I can't help but get all hot and embarrassed, trying to hide my face behind Connor. First person to stand up is Dick.

"I'd like to talk about my baby sister." He looks right at me. "Now, I remember chasing you around the house when you were little. Clumsy little girl would fall down all the time, through the floor, walls, down the stairs. I don't think any of us would have thought you would become the woman you are today, I love you, and I wish you a happy marriage." He smiles and raises his glass. The speeches continue on like that, embarrassing yet thoughtful towards Connor and I. When we get to our first dance, it's like everything around us melts away. No bad memories, no sadness or guilt, nothing holding us down. It's just us, slow dancing to Stubborn Love by the Lumineers. I dance with my dad, then the real party starts with my favorite song that I demanded be played at my wedding. Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners. After that one song, I go back to my cabana and pull on a different dress.. This one is still white with a teal sash but shorter so I can run around with everyone else without a problem. I find Connor again and pull him to the surf, dancing to the music, splashing each other. When the night finally comes to a close, Connor and I say goodby to everyone before going back to the hotel room. I lean on the door and bite my lip.

"Ready for bed, Mrs. Kent?" Connor asks. I can't help but giggle at my name.

"I've been waiting for this all night." I smile and lock the door behind us.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

**Congratulations! You made it to the end of my story! If you would be so kind, leave a review and let me know what you thought!**


End file.
